China blasts Fox News host after he said Beijing should apologise for coronavirus outbreak 

China has condemned a Fox News presenter’s ‘arrogance’, ‘prejudice’ and ‘ignorance’ after he said Beijing should apologise over the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 3,300 people worldwide.

Jesse Watters, who hosted an American talk show, made the comments half-jokingly as he said ‘I’d like to just ask the Chinese for a formal apology’.

He continued: ‘This coronavirus originated in China, and I have not heard one word from the Chinese. A simple “I’m sorry” would do. It would go a long way.’

US presenter Jesse Watters (pictured in 2017) said: ‘I expect a formal apology tomorrow. Doesn’t matter if it comes from [President Jinping] Xi or the embassy.’ China’s President Xi is pictured inspecting a centre for disease control and prevention in Beijing on February 12

Other participants of the programme, called The Five, chuckled when the commentator launched the rant on Monday.

Mr Watters added: ‘I expect a formal apology tomorrow. Doesn’t matter if it comes from [President Jinping] Xi or the embassy.’

Most of the five-member panel laughed again.

When Mr Watters’ co-host Dana Perino asked him ‘what if the outbreak started here’, he claimed there was a reason why the epidemic had started in China.

He said: ‘Because they have these markets where they’re eating raw bats and snakes.

‘They are a [sic] very hungry people. The Chinese communist government cannot feed the people.

‘And they are desperate. The food is uncooked. It’s unsafe. That is why scientists believe that is where it originated from.’

He concluded: ‘And according to The New York Times, Dana, the Chinese government has been very deceitful and deceptive in communicating the extent of the infections to the world.

‘So, as I said, tomorrow I expect an apology.’

Mr Watters also accused that the virus originated in China ‘because they have these markets where they’re eating raw bats and snakes’. Chinese experts claim that humans caught the virus from animals sold as food at a wholesale seafood market (pictured) in Wuhan, central China

Chinese workers wear protective masks and suits before entering the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan to carry out thorough disinfection works on March 4

Hazmat-clad cleaners are tasked to sanitise stalls and safely dispose of the remaining stock

Beijing did not respond to Mr Watters’ demand on Tuesday. However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs today lashed out at the American presenter.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the Ministry, blasted the host’s remarks as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘laughable’.

‘They completely exposed his arrogance, prejudice and ignorance towards China,’ Mr Zhao said at a daily press briefing. 

The spokesperson stressed that epidemic diseases were the common enemies of mankind and patients in all countries were victims.

He said: ‘The World Health Organization has repeatedly stated that stigmatisation is more dangerous than the virus itself.

‘At this time, individual people spread such illogical remarks, what are their motives?’

Zhao Lijian (pictured on February 24), a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, labelled Mr Watters’ remarks ‘ridiculous’ and ‘laughable’ at a press briefing on Thursday

Globally, the deadly virus has killed at least 3,301 people and infected more than 96,400

Mr Zhao added that there was no basis for China to formally apologise because there was no confirmed conclusion yet on the origin of the virus.

He argued: ‘In 2009, the H1N1 influenza outbreak in the United States spread to more than 214 countries and regions.

‘In that year alone, [it] caused at least 18,449 people to die. Did anyone require the United States to apologise?’

The spokesperson concluded by praising his country’s preventative measures.

He stated: ‘The Chinese strength, Chinese efficiency and Chinese speed have been widely praised by international communities during the control and prevention efforts of this epidemic.

‘The Chinese people have made enormous sacrifice and contributions for the sake of the health and safety of people from countries around the world.’

MTA, the public transport authority of New York City, has stepped up disinfecting and cleaning subway stations, cars and buses amid the coronavirus outbreak in the densely populated city

There are now 165 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US. Eleven people have died

A woman in a mask gets on the New York City subway on Wednesday. There are now four confirmed cases of the virus in NYC

Mr Zhao’s statement came as two more people tested positive for coronavirus in New York City, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 13.

One of them is a woman in her 80s, and the other is a man in his 40s. No other information was given. Both of the new cases are in the ICU.

There are now 165 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States and 11 people have died of the disease in the country.

Globally, the deadly virus has killed at least 3,301 people and infected more than 96,400.

Scientists from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention claim that humans caught the virus from animals sold as food at a wholesale seafood market in Wuhan, a city in central China.

It is not clear which animal was carrying the virus, but the market was home to stalls trading dozens of different species, including rats and wolf cubs.

Outside China, more than 70 nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected.