China says Trump’s ‘Chinese virus’ tweet smears China

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet calling the coronavirus a “Chinese virus” smears China and said Beijing strongly opposes Trump’s usage of the words.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters during a daily briefing that the U.S. should first take care of its own matters.

(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)