China savaged by Foreign Affairs chief for endangering millions of UK lives with COVID-19

CORONAVIRUS continues to spread across the globe and in the UK sparking the furious reaction of Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat against China's reluctance to ban wet markets.

Speaking to TalkRADIO, the Tory MP lashed out at the totalitarian regime over its failure to crack down on wet markets, where it is believed coronavirus originated. Mr Tugendhat claimed it was laughable for China to claim it could not stop the practice of wet markets in the country while successfully banning different religious practices in the privacy of Chinese residents' homes.

He said: “The idea that China couldn’t stop something like a wet market if it chose to is completely rubbish.

“They very successfully crack down on religious beliefs which are practiced privately and at home.

“So the idea that they couldn’t stop something that is conducted by literally hundreds of thousands people in public is completely laughable.

“It’s not being cracked down on because the Chinese decided not to crack down on it, despite the warning after the SARS outbreak in 2003.

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“A very, very clear warning by microbiologists that this was going to be the vector, the route of the next major outbreak and of course, indeed, they were absolutely right.”

He added: “My job is not to call out the Chinese Government just to randomly abuse them but to defend the interests of the British people and to protect British people, and that’s what I’m doing.

“For me, the issue is that what this totalitarian regime is doing is putting at risk the lives of the people I am here to represent, the people of West Kent, and it’s also putting at risk the country that I have spent my life trying to serve.

“And I find that extremely worrying.

China reported a drop in new coronavirus infections for a fourth day as drastic curbs on international travelers reined in the number of imported cases, while policymakers turned their efforts to healing the world's second-largest economy.

The city of Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak, reported no new cases for a sixth day, as businesses reopened and residents set about reclaiming a more normal life after a lockdown for almost two months.

Smartly turned out staff waited in masks and gloves to greet customers at entrances to the newly-reopened Wuhan International Plaza, home to boutiques of luxury brands such as Cartier and Louis Vuitton.

"The Wuhan International Plaza is very representative (of the city)," said Zhang Yu, 29. "So its reopening really makes me feel this city is coming back to life."

Sunday's figure of 31 new cases, including one locally transmitted infection, was down from 45 the previous day, the National Health Commission said.

As infections fall, policymakers are scrambling to revitalize an economy nearly paralysed by months-long curbs to control the spread of the flu-like disease.

On Monday, the central bank unexpectedly cut the interest rate on reverse repurchase agreements by 20 basis points, the largest in nearly five years.

The government is pushing businesses and factories to reopen, as it rolls out fiscal and monetary stimulus to spur recovery from what is feared to be an outright economic contraction in the quarter to March.

China's exports and imports could worsen as the pandemic spreads, depressing demand both at home and abroad, Xin Guobin, the vice minister of industry and information technology, said on Monday.