Germany sends China £130bn bill for ‘coronavirus damages’

Forum 4 years ago

Germany sends China £130bn bill for ‘coronavirus damages’

Germany has rattled China after joining the United Kingdom, France, and the United States in a rare attack after Berlin called out Beijing’s responsibility for the global pandemic and even issued a £130bn invoice.

The country has sparked outrage in China after a major newspaper put together a £130bn invoice that Beijing “owes” Berlin following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany has followed France, the UK and the US in directing its coronavirus anger at China, where the virus originated. Recent attacks come amid findings that Beijing appeared to cover up the true scale of the crisis, as the source of the outbreak remains a mystery.

On Saturday, Donald Trump warned that China should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for unleashing the coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump told reporters: “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it.

“If it was a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible, then there should be consequences.

He said the Chinese were “embarrassed” and the question was whether what happened with the coronavirus was “a mistake that got out of control, or was it done deliberately?”

President Trump and his senior aides have repeatedly accused China of lacking transparency.

This week the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started, revised its number of fatalities by a sudden 50% jump in the figure.

The UK has joined US intelligence officials in investigating claims that the virus originated in a Wuhan virus lab and not a wet market.

According to Express, a bombshell op-ed this week in Germany’s largest tabloid newspaper, Bild, joined this outrage by drawing up an itemised invoice for €149bn (£130b).