Trump insists COVID-19 a ‘Chinese virus,’ arguing his labeling ‘not racist’

US President Donald Trump insists on calling the novel coronavirus a “Chinese” one, arguing that it refers to where it is from and “not racist.”

At a Wednesday's briefing, the US leader claimed that the Chinese “probably would agree,” an allegation already denounced by Beijing.

“It’s not racist at all,” Trump said. “It comes from China, that’s why.”

Calling the virus “Chinese” has outraged Beijing, among others, amid concerns that it could increase tensions between the two countries.

“The use of this term is not only corrosive vis-à-vis a global audience, including here at home, it is also fueling a narrative in China about a broader American hatred and fear of not just the Chinese Communist Party but of China and Chinese people in general,” Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The New York Times.

Since the first US coronavirus case was reported last month, activists have been voicing concerns over rise in discriminatory behavior against Asian groups or places.

The president’s attitude helps cement xenophobia within America, while simultaneously boosting anti-US sentiments in China.

China does not rule out US role in coronavirus outbreak

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not ruled out the possibility that the United States was to blame for the spread of the new coronavirus in the Asian country.

“Given the Trump administration’s long record of statements and actions on immigration, immigrants and issues of race… use of this term can’t but be interpreted as xenophobic and tinged with racist overtones,” Kennedy said.

The US president has kept tying the virus to China in his statements ever since the outbreak began in Wuhan state.

“We closed it down to China, the source, very, very early,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “Far earlier than even the great professionals wanted to do. And I think, in the end, that’s going to be — that will have saved a tremendous number of lives.”

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