Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that "those who play with
fire will get burnt". U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar attacked China's response to the
Coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday (August 11) and said that if such an outbreak had emerged in Taiwan or the
United States it could have been "snuffed out easily". Azar arrived in Taiwan on Sunday (August 9) as the highest-level U.S. official to visit in four decades, a trip condemned by
China.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has vowed to bring it under its rule, by force if necessary.