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(Bloomberg) -- China said the U.S. had “inappropriately overreacted” to the deadly virus originating on the mainland and hasn’t provided much help to counter the outbreak.



“The U.S. government hasn’t provided any substantial assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travelers,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday at a news briefing held over social platform WeChat. “All it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a bad example.”

Hua said the U.S. was “turning from overconfidence to fear and overreaction.” She said banning the entry of foreigners who traveled to China in the past 14 days could be in violation of civil rights, rather than reduce the risk of the novel coronavirus spreading.

International efforts to contain the expanding virus are intensifying as the U.S. confirmed new infections and the Philippines reported the first death outside China. Airlines in Asia, Europe and the Middle East have stopped service to the mainland.

China Grapples With Growing Outbreak After Holiday: Virus Update

Beijing itself is grappling with how to contain the coronavirus as the country returns from Lunar New Year holidays. Its fast spread has rattled global governments, travelers and markets, with Chinese stocks on Monday falling the most since 2015 and commodity markets collapsing as trading resumed after the break. U.S. equity futures rose as China moved to cushion the financial blow.

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The U.S. has offered its top public health experts to help China with the coronavirus outbreak but so far Beijing hasn’t responded, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Sunday.

“This is a worldwide concern -- we want to help our Chinese colleagues if we can,” O’Brien said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We’ve made the offer and we’ll see if they accept.”

Hua said that China would still cooperate with the U.S. even as she criticized its response.

“Most countries appreciate and support China’s efforts to fight against the novel coronavirus, and we understand and respect them when they adopt or enhance quarantine measures at border entry,” Hua said. “But in the meantime, some countries, the U.S. in particular, have inappropriately overreacted, which certainly runs counter to WHO advice.”

“We hope countries will make reasonable, calm and science-based judgments and responses,” Hua said. “We have confidence and capability in winning this battle as soon as possible.”

--With assistance from Sharon Chen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Leigh in Hong Kong at kleigh4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh

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