China's failure to own up to the COVID-19 outbreak was 'economically driven'

Quill Intelligence CEO Danielle DiMartino Booth says China’s failure to acknowledge the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan was a “sin of omission writ large”.

As the coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, a trade deal was being negotiated between the United States and China.

“There was a lot on the line for China economically,” she said.

Ms DiMartino Booth said, “the trade war with the United states had already done untold damage to their economy” contributing towards the lowest rate of economic growth experienced by China in the past three decades.

Ultimately China prioritised “the economics of the country not only in front of the welfare of their own countrymen and countrywomen, but that of the rest of the world,” she told Sky News host Chris Smith.

Given President Donald Trump received briefings on the coronavirus in late December and early January, Chinese authorities must have known “from very early in December if not mid-November the virus was in existence,” Ms DiMartino Booth said.

Image: Associated Press

Видео China's failure to own up to the COVID-19 outbreak was 'economically driven' канала Sky News Australia