This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by David Beavers on politico.com
on February 9, 2020.
Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai on Sunday pushed back on what he called “suspicion” and “rumours” about the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus. In an interview with CBS’ Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation, Cui acknowledged that “a lot is still unknown, and our scientists, Chinese scientist, American scientists, scientists of other countries are doing their best to learn more about the virus.”
But when asked about comments made last week by Senator Tom Cotton – who, according to Brennan, suggested the virus may have come from China’s biological warfare program – Cui did not mince words.
“It's very harmful, it’s very dangerous to stir up suspicion, rumours and spread them among the people,” he said Sunday. “For one thing, this will create panic. Another thing is that it will fan up racial discrimination, xenophobia, all these things that will really harm our joint efforts to combat the virus.”
After the show aired Sunday, Cotton took to Twitter to defend himself.
“.@ambcuitianki
, here’s what’s not a conspiracy, not a theory: Fact: China lied about virus starting in Wuhan food market,” the Arkansas Republican wrote in one post.
.@ambcuitianki
, here’s what’s not a conspiracy, not a theory:
Cotton added in a second post: “Fact: super-lab is just a few miles from that market[.] Where did it start? We don’t know. But burden of proof is on you & fellow
communists. Open up now to competent international scientists,” seemingly referencing a laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Chinese diplomat also defended China’s treatment of Li Wenliang, a doctor who alerted authorities about the outbreak. He was scolded and silenced by police and has since succumbed to the disease himself.
“We are all very saddened about the death of Dr Li. He was a good doctor. He was a devoted doctor, and he did his best to protect people’s health. We are so grateful to him,” Cui said. “I don't know who tried to silence him, but there was certainly a disagreement or people were not able to reach agreement on what exactly the virus is, how it is affecting people.”
“Maybe some people reacted not quickly enough. Maybe Dr. Li, he perceived some incoming dangers earlier than others, but this could happen anywhere, but whenever we find there's some shortcoming, we’ll do our best to correct it,” he added.
Mahjong and talking pigs – unusual coronavirus challenges facing Chinese authorities
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Police confiscate mahjong tiles as they enforce the order that people refrain from playing. Photo: WeiboPolice confiscate mahjong tiles as they enforce the order that people refrain from playing. Photo: Weibo
Authorities from China have been dealing with some unusual challenges in enforcing coronavirus
containment, including mahjong addicts who refuse to give up the game and rumours featuring a talking pig.
To contain the spread of the virus, Chinese authorities have locked down Hubei province, which has about 60 million residents. Throughout the country, the public has been discouraged from going outside or attending gatherings. Several cities have introduced rules such as compulsory wearing of masks at all times in public spaces.
However, not everyone has been following the rules.
Mahjong is a popular card-like game played with tiles and each game requires four people. Police in cities in least three provinces have had to break up mahjong parlours and confiscate tiles from residents in the past two weeks, according to media reports.
Coronavirus: Police in China smash mahjong tables to stop villagers from gathering
On Thursday, the health commission in the eastern province of Zhejiang said a county in Quzhou had recorded locally transmitted cases linked to playing mahjong. As a result, officials from Jiuhua county confiscated more than 600 mahjong tiles from residents, removing selected tiles from each set.
“In rural places, it’s normal to play mahjong over Lunar New Year,” county official Zheng Shihua said in a report by online platform Pear Video. “But we’ve been telling them to stop. Some listened and some didn’t. There are always a couple of households that hide from us.”
The tiles would be returned to residents after the outbreak was over, he said.
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Elsewhere, a video posted online showed police in Maanshan in Anhui province, neighbouring Zhejiang, taking hammers to mahjong tables, sending tiles flying.
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Police destroyed 16 mahjong tables after inspecting about 40 households in the operation on January 28, Maanshan Daily reported.
The authorities have also had to debunk rumours that have sprung up during the outbreak, some veering towards the absurd.
A rumour that emerged on February 5, about a talking pig, went viral in the southern province of Guizhou.
The rumour was that a pig had spoken to its owner and told them cooking and eating nine eggs before sunrise would prevent them contracting the coronavirus, Guizhou Metropolis Daily reported.
Many people apparently believed the rumour and shared photos of themselves cooking eggs on social media, according to the report.
On the same day, police tracked down the woman blamed for starting the rumour. According to a statement by the police, she had sent the misinformation after reading that eating eggs could strengthen the immune system, and was detained for 10 days as a punishment.
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China has clearly failed to contain the infection, and it now dominates the news.