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Coronavirus: China and US in ‘new Cold War’ as relations hit lowest point in ‘more than 40 years’, spurred on by pandemic
- US-China relations have nosedived to their lowest point in decades, ex-officials on both sides say
- Donald Trump has threatened to scrap the phase one trade deal and increase tariffs, while Chinese media have stepped up attacks on US political figures
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A dramatic deterioration in US-China relations in recent days has convinced current and former government advisers on both sides that bilateral ties have plummeted to their lowest point in decades.
Over the past week, the Trump administration has threatened to scrap the phase one trade deal and increase tariffs on China, backed tough new export controls for Chinese firms buying American tech products, and continued to push theories claiming the coronavirus was man-made and leaked from a laboratory in the city of Wuhan.
The White House is also “turbocharging” an initiative among “friendly nations” to push manufacturing supply chains out of China, according to Reuters, while a leaked report from the US Department of Homeland Security accused Beijing of covering up the severity of the virus so it could hoard medical supplies at the start of the year.
China’s state media and “wolf warrior” diplomats have ratcheted up social media attacks on US political figures in response.
The United States and China are actually in the era of a new Cold War
Last week, a video mocking America’s handling of the coronavirus, entitled “Once Upon a Virus”, was widely shared among hawkish foreign ministry officials after it was released by official news agency Xinhua.
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