Former United States President Donald Trump recently criticized China in his latest attack against the Asian giant, demanding authorities to pay $10 trillion in reparations for the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In his first public address in the last three months, Trump said China was responsible for the damage caused by the COVID-19 virus. He also said any other countries that had financial debts to the Asian country should scratch off the amounts and consider it as a "downpayment."
Trump urged the American government to implement 100% tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country. "We demand reparations from the Communist Party of China. China must pay," Trump said in his speech, reported CNN.
Man-Made Virus
The businessman and former U.S. president once again expressed his belief that China and its leaders were responsible for the creation of the COVID-19 virus in human laboratories. "We had this horrible thing come in from China, we got that one right too, by the way, do you notice, you see what's going on, it's called the lab, that was an easy one, Wuhan," Trump said.
During his administration and as early as April 2020, Trump said he had evidence backing his claims China created the COVID-19 virus in a Wuhan laboratory. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement at the time saying there was a general scientific consensus that the coronavirus was not made by human hands.
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However, the conspiracy theory that Wuhan scientists created the virus inside a laboratory has been going viral in recent weeks. British spies have previously considered the notion that the COVID-19 virus leaking from a laboratory was a "plausible" situation, Business Insider reported.
Rallying Support
During his speech at the North Carolina Republican Convention, Trump urged his audience and the citizens of America to demand responsibility from China. He emphasized he had a great relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the coronavirus pandemic. He also noted the Chinese leaders were not fond of current U.S. President Joe Biden.
"In addition, all nations should work together to present China for a bill of minimum USD 10 trillion to compensate for the damage they have caused and that is a very low number, the damage is far far greater. As a first step, all countries should collectively cancel any debt that they owe to China as a downpayment on reparations," Trump said.
Additionally, Trump criticized Biden's administration, arguing the Democrat was being too gentle on China and shutting down investigations looking into the origin of the COVID-19 virus. "Joe Biden and his family took millions of dollars from the CCP. They bought him off, they flagrantly lied about it to American voters, the big tech and fake news media did not want to talk about it," he said, NDTV reported.
Trump also criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci for his sudden change in beliefs where he allegedly said no masks and then began to wear and recommend masks. However, the former president said the infectious disease expert's greatest mistake was when he denied the origin of the virus and how it came to be.
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