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Guardian: Bolsonaro’s son enrages Beijing by blaming China for coronavirus crisis

Row after Eduardo Bolsonaro claims ‘it’s China’s fault’, drawing a ferocious rebuke from senior Chinese diplomats

Beijing’s ambassador to Brazil has launched a stinging attack on the son of its far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, after he claimed the Chinese Communist party was to blame for the coronavirus crisis sweeping the world.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro’s influential politician son Eduardo – who many regard as Brazil’s de facto foreign minister and has close ties to Steve Bannon – enraged Beijing with an incendiary tweet about its role in the pandemic.

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“It’s China’s fault,” Bolsonaro claimed on Twitter, retweeting a message that said: “The blame for the global coronavirus pandemic has a name and surname: the Chinese Communist party.”

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Yang Wanming, Beijing’s top diplomat in Brazil, demanded an immediate retraction and apology for the “evil insult”, while his embassy accused Eduardo Bolsonaro of contracting “a mental virus” during a recent trip to the United States.

“Regrettably, you’re someone lacking both international vision and common sense, knowing neither China nor the world,” the Chinese embassy added. “We would advise you not to be in such a hurry to be the US’ spokesperson in Brazil – you’ll fall flat on your face.”

According to reports in the Brazilian media Yang also retweeted a message that read: “The Bolsonaro family is the great poison of this country.”

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“You should be EXPELLED from the country,” Allan dos Santos, one of the loudest online cheerleaders of Bolsonarismo, tweeted at China’s ambassador on Thursday.

Another prominent Bolsonarista, Bernardo Küster, tweeted: “This shit came from China. The Chinas [sic] lied and were negligent. Don’t trust communists – much less Chinese communists.”

Chinese Embassy Spokesperson: Ideological Attacks Only Leads to Self-damage

2020/03/21

In his article published in SVD, Johan Lagerkvist denigrated China's efforts to fight COVID-19, and proceeded from ideological prejudice to attribute the epidemic to China's political system, which runs against the facts, common sense and basic morality.

We solemnly inform him that the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and the institutional strengths are China's most effective weapons to overcome the disease. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have fully leveraged the institutional strengths of the Party's leadership and the mobilization system, always prioritized people's safety and health, mobilized resources across the country in a fast and comprehensive manner and formed strong synergy.

Using an epidemic for political purpose, waging an ideological attack and spreading lies in the name of "freedom of speech" will only lead to self-damage, like lifting a rock to have one's own toes squashed.