China says it won't accept US lawsuit on spread of coronavirus; warns countermeasures

China on Thursday said it would not accept any "unwarranted lawsuit" or demand for compensation from the US over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and warned of countermeasures if America passes any legislation or legal cases blaming Beijing for the spread of the deadly virus.

Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for China's Parliament - the National People's Congress - in his media briefing ahead of Friday's annual session said the accusations were completely baseless and ran counter to the international law and basic norms governing intentional relations.

"Trying to blame others in order to deflect attention from one's own problems is not a responsible thing to do. It is not moral either. For China, we will not accept unwarranted lawsuit or demand for compensation," he said.

Zhang said that since the start of the COVID-19, China effectively put the disease under control after an extremely hard battle and enormous sacrifices.

In the backdrop of the World Health Association in Geneva passing a resolution to probe the origin of the virus after the pandemic subsided, Zhang said the recent reports indicated that COVID-19 occurred in the different parts of the world and early cases have been identified which kept shifting the timeline of the disease forward.

Zhang also dismissed US President Donald Trump's threat to move the global supply chains away from China post-COVID-19 saying that it cannot be done by a single country.

Global supply chain depends on the behaviour and choices of businesses across the world.