One of Asia’s top prelates has laid the blame for the coronavirus on the doorstep of China’s communist government, saying it has the “primary responsibility” for the pandemic which has put much of the world under lockdown.

“The Chinese regime led by the all-powerful [Chinese President] Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – not its people – owes us all an apology, and compensation for the destruction it has caused,” said Myanmar Cardinal Charles Bo, the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences [FABC].

“At a minimum it should write off the debts of other countries, to cover the cost of COVID-19. For the sake of our common humanity, we must not be afraid to hold this regime to account,” the cardinal continued.

“International voices are raising against the negligent attitude showed by China, especially its despotic Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by its strong man Xi,” Bo said, citing the March 29 article in The Telegraph accusing China of hiding the true scale of the coronavirus pandemic.

“An epidemiological model at the University of Southampton found that had China acted responsibly just one, two or three weeks more quickly, the number affected by virus would have been cut by 66 percent, 86 percent and 95 percent respectively. Its failure has unleashed a global contagion killing thousands,” the cardinal claimed.