At a time when the rest of the world is facing meltdown over the coronavirus pandemic, there is something deeply unedifying about China's attempts to capitalise on the crisis to further its own global ambitions.

Xi Jinping visited Wuhan last week. Credit:AP

Beijing may take umbrage at Donald Trump's constant reference to the outbreak as "the China virus" or "the Wuhan flu", but the American president is simply stating the obvious, namely that the worst public health crisis the world has witnessed in a century originated in a Chinese wild animal market at the end of last year.

Moreover, the slow response of the Chinese authorities in dealing with the outbreak, together with the ruling Chinese Communist Party's initial attempt to conceal the true extent of the crisis, may well explain why it is Europe, and not China, that now enjoys the dubious distinction of becoming the pandemic's epicentre.

One of the CCP's guiding principles is that nothing can be allowed to undermine its supremacy. This would explain why, rather than heed the warnings of Dr Li Wenliang, the doctor who first identified the terrifying threat posed by COVID-19, the Chinese authorities denounced him for "rumour-mongering", and either ignored or played down the risks until well into January.