By Steve Geimann, Bloomberg
(excerpts)
The Trump administration stepped up its campaign of blaming China for the deadly coronavirus pandemic, with a top aide suggesting Beijing sent airline passengers to spread the infection worldwide.

“The virus was spawned in Wuhan province, patient zero was in November,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on ABC’s “This Week.”

President Trump Meets With China's Vice Premier Liu He
Peter NavarroPhotographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
“The Chinese, behind the shield of the World Health Organization, for two months hid the virus from the world and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York and around the world to seed that.”

Milan and New York went on to become hotspots for the pandemic.

Navarro’s comments add to the almost daily barrage of U.S. attacks on China, including suggestions that the virus escaped from a laboratory in the central city of Wuhan.

As recently as last week, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo ratcheted up his criticism, asserting China covered up the origins of the virus.

“They could have kept it in Wuhan,” Navarro said. “Instead, it became a pandemic. That’s why I say the Chinese did that to Americans and they are responsible.”

‘Out of Control’
On Thursday, Trump said that while he still suspects the outbreak may be connected to the Wuhan virology lab, he said it was unlikely the Chinese deliberately unleashed the pathogen. “I think more likely it got out of control,” he said...

source:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-17/trump-aide-accuses-china-of-using-air-travelers-to-seed-virus