John Bolton declares China 'responsible' for coronavirus outbreak, says world must hold them 'accountable'

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Former National Security Adviser John Bolton condemned China for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak and called on the rest of the world to "act" and hold the communist government accountable.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Communist Party have been accused of silencing doctors and critics in the early stages of the coronavirus, costing thousands of lives.

Now that they have seemingly turned the corner in tackling the virus at home, the communist-run nation has now positioned itself as the country ahead of the coronavirus curve, and has routinely made unsubstantiated claims that the U.S. is behind the crisis.

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In turn, President Trump has routinely referred to coronavirus as the "Chinese virus".

Despite no longer seeing eye to eye with President Trump, Bolton, a notorious hawk, took China to task Saturday morning for their role in the spread of the virus.

"China silenced coronavirus whistleblowers, expelled journalists, destroyed samples, refused CDC help, and concealed counts of deaths and infections. It's fact there was a massive coverup. China is responsible. The world must act to hold them accountable," the former U.N. ambassador tweeted.

CHINA RECASTS ITSELF AS GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE LEADER

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China has been mounting a very public -- and largely successful -- humanitarian campaign to come across as a strong world leader.

China's private and public sectors are working in lockstep to fast-track aid to countries that are in desperate need of it. Earlier this week, Xi pledged to send more medical experts to Italy, a country on track to surpass China in the number of coronavirus-related deaths when the numbers are tallied at the end of Thursday.

However, President Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric against China, blasting its government for its claim that the U.S. military planted the virus in Wuhan.

Critics have condemned the president's rhetoric as "racist" and "xenophobic" while defenders insist it reflects the origin of the virus and how the Chinese government is responsible for mishandling the outbreak.

Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.