Pompeo collapsed an international statement on the pandemic by insisting on saying 'Wuhan virus': report
A joint statement about the coronavirus pandemic from the G7 countries fell apart before it was sent because Secretary Mike Pompeo and the State Department insisted on calling the pathogen the "Wuhan virus," according to report from the Washington Post and Der Spiegel.
President Donald Trump has taken glee in referring to the "Chinese virus," and right-wing commentators have defended the term. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn against labels that designate the virus by a location, because they can lead to prejudice, the Post reported.
Because the other representatives of the G7 countries disagreed with the use of the term, the joint statement has been nixed altogether at this point, both reports found.
The Post explained:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has brushed off criticism of his use of the term, saying it’s important to point out that the virus came from the Chinese city of Wuhan and that China’s government had a special responsibility to warn the world about its dangers.
When asked about a report that his insistence on including the term caused a rift at the G-7 meeting, Pompeo did not deny the charge but said that any disagreements among the group were tactical and not sweeping in nature.
The report from Der Spiegel, a German-language newspaper, was revealing (presented here as translated by Google):
The US government's rigid stance fits the course Trump is taking in the corona crisis: the Chinese are to blame, Europe reacted too late and contributed to the virus reaching the United States. That is his line.He announced countermeasures such as the entry ban for EU citizens overnight - and without informing the Europeans beforehand. He initially excluded supposed friends like Great Britain from entry bans, but later corrected them.
Frustration is great in Berlin and Paris. Washington is finally saying goodbye to partnership, government officials say. Trump's fight against multilateralism does not stop at formats like G7.
Corona destroy the last remnants of the existing world order.
