Require US to meet us halfway: China on Trump's threat to cut off ties
Story highlights
President Trump on Thursday had said he 'could cut off the whole relationship' with China
A day after US President Trump threatened to "cut off" ties with China amid the coronavirus crisis, the foreign ministry said that "China and the US should continue to strengthen cooperation against the epidemic, defeat the epidemic as soon as possible, treat patients, and restore economy and production."
"But it requires the US to meet halfway with China," China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
"To maintain the steady development of China-US relations is in the fundamental interests of the people in both countries, and is conducive to world peace and stability," the foreign ministry spokesman said.
President Trump on Thursday had said he "could cut off the whole relationship" with China. "You'd save $500 billion if you cut off the whole relationship," Trump told Fox Business news, a US-based television news channel while adding that "right now I just don't want to speak to him", referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Trump administration has repeatedly attacked China over the origin of the coronavirus which has claimed over 80,000 lives in the United States and infected over 1.3 million people.
The US president had said earlier that the virus was leaked from a Wuhan laboratory, an allegation dismissed by China. Trump has also attacked the WHO alleging it had a "China bias" while shutting off aid to the UN health body.
In a tweet earlier he described the virus as a "plague from China" while pressuring Chinese authorities to disclose the origin of the virus.