US senator warns China of change in trade relations if 'gross' animal markets don't close

  • Senator Lindsey Graham, in an interview warned that trade relations with China would have to change if 'disgusting' wet markets doesn't close

  • He said that Coronavirus was not lab made, but in 'gross' markets

With the opinion that China's animal markets were responsible for the creation of novel coronavirus; Senator Lindsey Graham told that trade relations with China would have to change if such 'gross' wet markets doesn't close, such as the one in Wuhan, where the first infections of coronavirus were reported.

These markets sell bats, dogs, cats, pigs, oxen, ducks, chickens, bats and monkeys among many exotic animal species for human consumption. These meat markets have again opened up for business with Beijing's order of ban on the sale of wild animals like bats, as some research says Bats originate such viruses.

Senator warns China

Sen. Lindsay Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham Twitter

On Tuesday, The South Carolina Republican said that China could help the world by shutting down such markets, on Fox & Friends. He said, "I'm going to write a letter to the Chinese ambassador saying, 'If you don't shut those wet markets down, our trading relationship is going to change.'"

With China reporting decreased new infections, a sort of normalcy has been restored and these markets have opened up, that includes selling of wild animals, reported Washington Examiner

"I'm going to write a letter to the World Health Organization and to the Chinese ambassador asking them to close the Chinese wet markets," said Graham, adding "These are open-air markets where they sell monkey; they sell bat. We think this whole thing started from the transmission from a bat to a human."

Virus not lab made

He said that the novel coronavirus did not come from the Chinese military lab, as some reports noted, but from the 'disgusting and gross' wet markets that sell exotic animals which transmit viruses from animals to human beings. "Those things need to shut down," he said. China has now seen a decrease in cases, with more than 76,420 recoveries among the 82,394 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday.

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