China blasts US for spreading fear, ‘overreaction’ to virus

Bloomberg

China said the US “inappropriately overreacted” to the deadly virus that originated there and hasn’t provided much help to counter the outbreak, disputing the Trump administration’s claim that it offered assistance.
“The US government hasn’t provided any substantial assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travellers,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters on Monday.
The US has offered its top public health experts to help China with the coronavirus outbreak but so far Beijing hasn’t responded, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said.
Beijing’s harsh words bring the tensions between the two countries back into focus, after they spent the last two years engaged in a trade war that undermined growth in the world’s two biggest economies. China’s death toll has climbed to over 360 and its confirmed cases now top 17,000, fuelling skepticism about the government’s ability to constrain it.
International efforts to halt its spread are intensifying as the US confirmed new infections and the Philippines reported the first death outside China over the weekend, with airlines in Asia, Europe and the Middle East stopping service to the mainland.
Hua said the US was “turning from overconfidence to fear and overreaction.” She said banning the entry of foreigners who travelled to China in the past 14 days could be in violation of civil rights, rather than reduce the risk of the novel coronavirus spreading.
The US will send a “handful more” flights to bring out citizens from Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told reporters on Monday, according to a pool report. Pompeo said the US may also bring in medical supplies.

‘Worldwide Concern’
China on Monday was grappling with the financial impact of the outbreak as it returned from normally-joyous Lunar New Year holidays, with millions of citizens quarantined during a week that usually sees people travel back to their hometowns.
Its fast spread has rattled global governments, travelers and markets, with Chinese stocks on Monday falling the most since 2015 and commodity markets collapsing as trading resumed after the break. US equity futures rose as China moved to cushion the financial blow.

HK to close more border checkpoints with China
Bloomberg

Hong Kong will close more border checkpoints with China in order to ward off the spread of the deadly coronavirus that has already claimed more than 360 lives in the mainland.
The city will close some of its busiest ports effective from midnight Tuesday, including Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau, Huanggang, and the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing Monday. She said China has already stopped issuing visas to Hong Kong as part of the containment effort.
The new measure would leave only three border checkpoints remaining in operation: Shenzhen Bay port, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and the airport, Lam said.