China denies Xi asked WHO to help cover up virus

China's foreign ministry on Monday denied a report in a German magazine saying that Chinese leader Xi Jinping contacted the World Health Organization for help in covering up the coronavirus.

"The Chinese leader did not speak with the World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general on January 21," said Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has been attacking the WHO, accusing it of tiptoeing around China and delaying warnings about the coronavirus to avoid offending Beijing.

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday that German intelligence had found that Xi asked the WHO to withhold information about person-to-person transmission of coronavirus and to delay a pandemic warning.

But Chinese officials publicly declared the coronavirus was transmissible from person-to-person on January 20, a day before the alleged call.

Also Monday, Zhao responded to comments by New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters in support of Taiwan's entry into the WHO.

Zhao said this was "political manipulation" and warned it could damage bi-lateral relations with New Zealand.

Zhao's comments come as some Western countries are pressing for Taiwan's inclusion as a separate entity in the WHO, fueling pushback from Beijing.

At China's insistence, Taiwan has been barred from the U.N. and the WHO and even stripped of its observer status at the annual World Health Assembly.