US Vice-Presidential debate: Pence blames China as Harris corners him on COVID-19 response

US Vice-President Mike Pence laid the blame on China for the coronavirus pandemic, saying President Donald Trump isn’t “happy about it”. The vice-presidential debate in kicked-off in Utah as Fox News moderator Susan Page asked the candidates to share their views on the coronavirus response as the United States remains the worst-affected nation across the globe in terms of COVID-19 cases and related deaths.

“First and foremost, China is to blame for the coronavirus. And President Trump is not happy about it,” said Pence.

The Republican leader accused Beijing and the World Health Organisation (WHO) of not being transparent about the infectious nature of the disease. Pence said that China did not allow US personnel to enter the first epicentre of COVID-19 to get information on the novel coronavirus until the middle of February.

“We want to improve the relationship but we want a level playing field. We will hold China accountable for what they did to America with the coronavirus," Pence added.

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'Greatest failure'

In a debate where allegations flew thick and fast, Senator Kamala Harris accused the Trump administration of keeping American people in dark over the coronavirus. Citing Pulitzer-winning journalist Bob Woodward’s book, Harris said that Trump knew about the nature of the disease as early as January but took no action until March. She also called COVID-19 response under Trump as the “greatest failure” of the presidential administration in the history of the United States.

"The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country," Harris said.

The United States has reported over 211,000 coronavirus-related death and more than 7.5 million COVID-19 cases as it remains the worst affected nation in the world. Pence acknowledged that the United States has gone through a very challenging time in 2020 but stressed that Trump has prioritised the health of Americans from the beginning. The 61-year-old Republican said that the US President, in an unprecedented manner, suspended all travels from China, the second-largest economy in the world, but the action was criticised as “xenophobic and hysteric” by Biden.

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