China says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is “slandering’’ the country by repeatedly referring to the new coronavirus as “Wuhan virus” in reference to its city of origin. In two appearances last week, Pompeo name-checked Wuhan when discussing the outbreak, and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) announced Sunday that he was self-quarantining because of “Wuhan virus.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said there’s no question the choice of words was deliberate, especially since the World Health Organization has said the virus’ official name is COVID-19. “We condemn the despicable practice of individual U.S. politicians eagerly stigmatizing China and Wuhan by association with the novel coronavirus, disrespecting science and WHO,” Geng said at a briefing, according to The Washington Post. “The international society has a fair judgment, and Pompeo’s attempts of slandering China’s efforts in combating the epidemic is doomed to fail.”
