US 'Titanic' hit 'Covid' iceberg; Pence holding 'China' balloons to fly away: Mouthpiece

China's propagandist 'Foreign Mission' newspaper China Daily on Wednesday put out a cartoon targetting US Vice President Mike Pence, over the country's handling of the Coronavirus crisis saying that they were taking the 'wrong direction', by blaming China.

In the cartoon, Pence can be seen riding aboard a US ship, signifying the country. The ship has crashed into an iceberg called 'COVID-19' and is on the verge of drowning. However, to safeguard himself from sinking with the ship, Pence can be seen holding a bunch of balloons that would help him avoid the disaster. The balloons read 'Blame China.' 

US has been one of the worst-hit countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of reported COVID-19 cases crossed the 3 million mark on Wednesday after recording a single-day spike of over 60,000 new cases. With this, the US has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world, with over 134,400 deaths. 

Read: Mike Pompeo Slams China Over LAC Faceoff, Says 'Chinese Took Incredibly Aggressive Action'

Read: Mike Pompeo Asserts US Will Hold China Accountable If Hong Kong's Freedom Is Suppressed

US' crackdown on China

Amid the pandemic, the US has been strongly vocal about China's role in creating the virus, which it alleges originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Last month, Trump had called the novel Coronavirus “Kung Flu”, blaming China for the deadly outbreak across the globe. Addressing an election rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump said that COVID-19 has more names than any other disease in history and he can name different versions of it.

Meanwhile, according to agency sources, a group of 14 US lawmakers have introduced a bill in the Congress demanding analysis of the alleged efforts made by the Chinese government to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic for its nationalistic gains.

Besides the pandemic, the Trump-led administration has also launched a multi-faceted crackdown on China's constant abuse of power and its expansionist strategies. Pence and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been particularly active in this and have openly called out the Xi Jinping administration's role in the detention of Uyghur Muslims, cyber-attacks across the world, data mining, abuse of Tibet nationals, the Galwan clash with India, lack of free speech in Hong Kong, etc.

Furthermore, the US Secretary of State in a recent statement also said that the US government is constantly evaluating plans to ban Chinese social media apps like TikTok to ensure the privacy of American citizens.

Read: Donald Trump Says US Will 'never Close' As Coronavirus Cases Near 3 Million

Read: China's Stooge Likens US To A 'broken Watermelon'; Asks Trump If His Crackdown Has Worked