The Hill: Pompeo warns China against spreading ‘outlandish rumors’ about coronavirus
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned his Chinese counterpart against spreading ‘outlandish rumors’ about the coronavirus pandemic. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo ‘conveyed strong U.S. objection to (China’s) efforts to shift blame for COVID-19 to the United States’ in a phone call with Yang Jiechi, director of China’s Office of Foreign Affairs. … Pompeo’s call with Yang comes amid conspiracy theories taking hold in Chinese media throwing into question the origin of the coronavirus and blaming the U.S. for the spread of the disease that was first detected in Wuhan, China…” (Kelly, 3/16).

New York Times: China Spins Tale That the U.S. Army Started the Coronavirus Epidemic
“China is pushing a new theory about the origins of the coronavirus: It is an American disease that might have been introduced by members of the United States Army who visited Wuhan in October. There is not a shred of evidence to support that, but the notion received an official endorsement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose spokesman accused American officials of not coming clean about what they know about the disease…” (Myers/Fu, 3/13).