Moving medical supply chains back to the US from China is a wrong remedy for coronovirus pandemic, Chinese government spokesperson says

Earlier this month, we reported a story of Chinese government spokesperson Zhao Lijian after he said the coronavirus’ origin is not necessarily China, calling it “irresponsible” to trace the origin to China. Lijian’s warning came after some reports that coronavirus may have originated from China’s Wuhan laboratory.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic exposes U.S dependent on China for vital drugs. Currently, Chinese pharmaceutical companies have supplied more than 90 percent of U.S. antibiotics, vitamin C, ibuprofen and hydrocortisone, as well as 70 percent of acetaminophen and 40 to 45 percent of heparin in recent years, according to Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

In addition, about 20% of the U.S. retail supply chain is exposed to China. That leads to a call from U.S. lawmakers urging congress to draft a plan to reduce U.S. exposure to China.  In response, Chinese government spokesperson Geng Shuang, said in a post on Twitter on Tuesday that “Trying to move medical supply chains back to the US from China is unrealistic and unhelpful. A wrong remedy for #COVID19 pandemic.”

Trying to move medical supply chains back to the US from China is unrealistic and unhelpful. A wrong remedy for #COVID19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/VzEdfTxN5Q

— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) March 17, 2020

His tweet quickly drew response with some saying “Trying to move medical supply chains back to the US from China is a best idea and useful and helpful because Corona virus was made in China to make money. #chinaVirusMadeInChina is everywhere so China is starting to make money by selling #ChineseVirus vaccine.”