‘Lies and shady motives’: China fumes at Donald Trump

China on Wednesday slammed US President Donald Trump for his hard-hitting remarks against Beijing at the UN General Assembly session, saying his allegations were full of “fabricated lies” driven by “shady political motives”.

In his address on Tuesday, Trump blasted China for “unleashing” the plague of the “China virus” to the world, demanding that the UN must hold Beijing accountable for failing to contain the pandemic.

Slamming Trump’s speech, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said his remarks about China “disregarded facts and fabricated lies”.

“And driven by shady political motives, President Trump used the UN podium to level unfounded accusations against China. China firmly opposes these smears.

Such acts have again shown that unilateralism and bullying are the biggest threat to the world,” Wang said.

“Lies can in no way masquerade as truth. The world is fully aware of China’s record in containing Covid-19, and the people have their fair judgement,” he said, adding, “China is a victim of the virus.”

Saudi king targets Iran

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman used his speech before the UN General Assembly on Wednesday to stress his country’s Islamic roots and slam rival Iran.

The monarch touted the kingdom’s role as president of the G20 this year, and the billions of dollars in humanitarian aid Saudi Arabia gave to countries around the world.

He said West Asia has been suffering from major political and security challenges, blaming Iran for the region’s instability.

He blamed Iran for targeting Saudi oil facilities last year, saying: “It demonstrated that this regime has total disregard for the stability of the global economy or stability of oil supplies to international markets.”

He said Iran has exploited a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers “to intensify its expansionist activities, create its terrorist networks, and use terrorism,” adding that this had produced nothing but “chaos, extremism, and sectarianism.”