<p>U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China over the coronavirus on Wednesday, calling the $2 billion Beijing has pledged to fight the pandemic "paltry" compared to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars of damage.</p>.<p>Pompeo rejected President Xi Jinping's claim that Beijing had acted with transparency after the outbreak in China, and said if Xi wanted to show that, he should hold a news conference and allow reporters to ask him anything they liked.<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-india-live-updates-total-cases-deaths-covid-19-tracker-worldometer-update-lockdown-latest-news-835374.html?_ga=2.187363181.416104316.1589592942-1897853262.1587057442" target="_blank">For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</a></strong></p>.<p>"President Xi claimed this week that China is acting with openness, transparency responsibility. I wish it were so," Pompeo told a State Department news conference, charging that Beijing continued to withhold virus samples and access to facilities, to censor discussion, "and much, much more."</p>.<p>U.S.-China tensions have spiked in recent weeks, with Pompeo and President Donald Trump slamming Beijing's handling of the outbreak. The United States has been hardest hit in the global pandemic.<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/coronavirus-live-news-covid-19-latest-updates.html" target="_blank">CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</a></strong></p>.<p>At a time when many nations are urging unity and cooperation to ramp up the virus battle, Trump has proposed quitting the World Health Organization over its response and called it a "puppet of China," while Xi has pledged it $2 billion.</p>.<p>"I look forward to seeing them fulfill that $2-billion commitment," Pompeo said. "China's contributions to fighting the pandemic are paltry, compared to the cost that they have imposed on the world."</p>.<p>"This plague has cost roughly 90,000 American lives, more than 36 million Americans have lost their jobs since March; globally 300,000 lives. Could be as much as $9 trillion, according to our estimates, cost imposition on the world of the Chinese Communist Party's failures," Pompeo said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In Beijing, China called Pompeo "extremely irresponsible", and urged him to explain shortcomings in the U.S. response to the virus.</p>.<p>"Why didn't the U.S. government take any control and prevention measures between January and March?" said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.</p>.<p>"Why did it fail to stem the fast spread of coronavirus in the United States? He has a responsibility to explain this to the world."</p>.<p>Pompeo also accused China of threatening Australia with "economic retribution" for seeking an independent inquiry into the outbreak's origins and charged that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had had "unusually close ties to Beijing ... long before this current pandemic," something "deeply troubling."</p>.<p>The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pompeo's accusations. </p>
<p>U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China over the coronavirus on Wednesday, calling the $2 billion Beijing has pledged to fight the pandemic "paltry" compared to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars of damage.</p>.<p>Pompeo rejected President Xi Jinping's claim that Beijing had acted with transparency after the outbreak in China, and said if Xi wanted to show that, he should hold a news conference and allow reporters to ask him anything they liked.<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-india-live-updates-total-cases-deaths-covid-19-tracker-worldometer-update-lockdown-latest-news-835374.html?_ga=2.187363181.416104316.1589592942-1897853262.1587057442" target="_blank">For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</a></strong></p>.<p>"President Xi claimed this week that China is acting with openness, transparency responsibility. I wish it were so," Pompeo told a State Department news conference, charging that Beijing continued to withhold virus samples and access to facilities, to censor discussion, "and much, much more."</p>.<p>U.S.-China tensions have spiked in recent weeks, with Pompeo and President Donald Trump slamming Beijing's handling of the outbreak. The United States has been hardest hit in the global pandemic.<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/coronavirus-live-news-covid-19-latest-updates.html" target="_blank">CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</a></strong></p>.<p>At a time when many nations are urging unity and cooperation to ramp up the virus battle, Trump has proposed quitting the World Health Organization over its response and called it a "puppet of China," while Xi has pledged it $2 billion.</p>.<p>"I look forward to seeing them fulfill that $2-billion commitment," Pompeo said. "China's contributions to fighting the pandemic are paltry, compared to the cost that they have imposed on the world."</p>.<p>"This plague has cost roughly 90,000 American lives, more than 36 million Americans have lost their jobs since March; globally 300,000 lives. Could be as much as $9 trillion, according to our estimates, cost imposition on the world of the Chinese Communist Party's failures," Pompeo said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In Beijing, China called Pompeo "extremely irresponsible", and urged him to explain shortcomings in the U.S. response to the virus.</p>.<p>"Why didn't the U.S. government take any control and prevention measures between January and March?" said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.</p>.<p>"Why did it fail to stem the fast spread of coronavirus in the United States? He has a responsibility to explain this to the world."</p>.<p>Pompeo also accused China of threatening Australia with "economic retribution" for seeking an independent inquiry into the outbreak's origins and charged that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had had "unusually close ties to Beijing ... long before this current pandemic," something "deeply troubling."</p>.<p>The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pompeo's accusations. </p>