A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged the United States to stop hurling slanderous remarks at China and play a constructive role in safeguarding international public health at a routine press conference on Friday.

Photo taken on March 16, 2020 shows the White House in Washington D.C., the United States. The White House said Monday it has canceled this year's Easter Egg Roll amid the spread of coronavirus across the country. (Photo: Xinhua)

US President Donald Trump described COVID-19 as a "Chinese virus" at a media conference on Wednesday and said the characterization was not racist at all, since the virus came from China. He added that China could have informed the US of the virus earlier. Some other US officials also claimed recently that China was not open and transparent enough in sharing the pandemic information, which had led to a delay in America's action to prevent and control the virus. Meanwhile, photos released by the media show that Trump had erased the word "corona" in his notes for the press conference and replaced it with "Chinese".

Geng Shuang expressed resolute opposition to such statements. "Some Americans resolutely associate the COVID-19 with China, repetitively stigmatizing China. The Chinese are strongly indignant and opposed to such actions. The remark that China is not open and transparent enough confuses right with wrong, turning a deaf ear to the ironclad facts," said Geng.

He added the determining the source of COVID-19 should be based on scientific analysis. The World Health Organization and the international community have a clear consensus on this issue, and that is to oppose the stigmatization of any specific countries and regions by associating them with the virus.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, China has taken the most comprehensive, strict and thorough measures in terms of epidemic prevention and control. Meanwhile, China continuously informed the United States of pandemic information, and the two sides have maintained close contact. In the past two months, China has provided timely information and carried out technical cooperation with the United States. And the Chinese people have united as one to make joint efforts on fighting the pandemic, winning much precious time for the world to take actions. 

"Even many media and experts in the United States believe that their country has wasted the precious time that China has won for them," said Geng.

 "We hope that instead of slandering other countries and shifting responsibility, the US can play a constructive role in working together with the rest of the world to fight the pandemic and safeguard international public health," he added.

(Compiled by Cao Mengqi)