黑料社

US President Donald Trump further hardened his rhetoric towards China on Thursday, saying he no longer wishes to speak with Xi Jinping and warning darkly he might cut ties over the rival superpower鈥檚 handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tensions have ratcheted up between Washington and Beijing as they trade barbs over the origin of the pandemic 鈥� which first appeared in late 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and which Trump has dubbed the 鈥淧lague from China.鈥�

鈥淚 have a very good relationship (with Xi), but I just 鈥� right now I don鈥檛 want to speak to him,鈥� Trump said of the Chinese president on Fox Business.

鈥淚鈥檓 very disappointed in China. I will tell you that right now.鈥�

Asked how the United States might choose to retaliate, Trump gave no specifics but struck a threatening tone, saying: 鈥淭here are many things we could do. We could do things. We could cut off the whole relationship.鈥�

鈥淚f you did, what would happen?鈥� Trump asked. 鈥淵ou鈥檇 save $500 billion if you cut off the whole relationship.鈥�

Trump has for weeks accused China of concealing the true scale of the outbreak, allowing it to spread unchecked across the globe 鈥� and claim the lives of 300,000 people to date.

Beijing strongly denies the charge, insisting it transmitted all available data as soon as possible to the World Health Organization.

But Trump doubled down, insisting: 鈥淭hey could have stopped it. They could have stopped it in China where it came from. But it didn鈥檛 happen that way.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 very sad what鈥檚 happened to the world and to our country, with all of the deaths,鈥� he said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also took aim at Beijing on Thursday.

鈥淲hile the United States and our allies and partners are coordinating a collective, transparent response to save lives, the PRC continues to silence scientists, journalists and citizens, and to spread disinformation, which has exacerbated the dangers of this health crisis,鈥� he said in a statement.

China鈥檚 ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, issued a rebuttal on Sky 黑料社.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not any cover-up at all,鈥� Liu said. 鈥淐hina is a victim. China is not a culprit.鈥�

Hacking accusation

The US-Chinese standoff over the pandemic has raised questions over the fate of a partial trade deal inked in January that had marked a truce in the bruising war between the world鈥檚 top two economies.

Trump earlier this week ruled out renegotiating that deal, when asked about reports that China was looking to reopen talks.

Last Friday, Vice Premier Liu He, who led China鈥檚 negotiations, spoke by phone with Washington鈥檚 top negotiators and confirmed that both sides agreed to implement the first phase of the deal.

But the war of words has simmered, with US authorities adding fuel to the fire Wednesday by saying Chinese hackers were trying to obtain data on coronavirus treatments and vaccines, and warning the effort involved Chinese government-affiliated groups and others.

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said China鈥檚 efforts posed a 鈥渟ignificant threat鈥� to the US response to COVID-19 鈥� coming as dozens of companies, institutes and governments around the world are racing to develop a vaccine.

Beijing strongly rejected the accusation, calling it a smear attempt 鈥� just as it has forcefully rejected the US accusation that the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory.

When asked on Fox Business what evidence there was to support that claim, Trump was less categorical than on past occasions, even appearing to dial back his assertion.

鈥淲e have a lot of information, and it鈥檚 not good. But you know, the worst of all, whether it came from the lab or came from the bats 鈥� it all came from China and they should have stopped it,鈥� he said.

Nevertheless, US officials are pressing ahead in search of ways to punish China and seek compensation for the costs of the pandemic.

Republican senators on Tuesday proposed legislation that would empower Trump to slap sanctions on China if it does not give a 鈥渇ull accounting鈥� for the outbreak.