Trump Assails China Over Virus in UN Speech as Xi Pushes Back
- U.S. president asks UN to hold China accountable over virus
- Xi pushes back, saying virus fight shouldn’t be politicized
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President Donald Trump assailed China for the coronavirus pandemic in a speech Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly aimed squarely at U.S. voters, calling on the international body to punish Beijing. China’s president pushed back.
“In the earliest days of the virus, China locked down travel domestically while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world,” Trump said in a prerecorded speech. “The Chinese government, and the World Health Organization -- which is virtually controlled by China -- falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.”