Quick Read: China’s face-mask diplomacy appears to be falling apart after American companies were blocked from shipping crucial medical equipment out of the country to the United States.

China’s face-mask diplomacy appears to be falling apart after American companies were blocked from shipping crucial medical equipment out of the country to the United States.

In a move that is bound to infuriate President Donald Trump’s administration, “large quantities of critical protective gear and other health-care goods are sitting in warehouses across China” because of a clearance hold-up by officials, according to an exclusive Wall Street Journal report.

The medical supplies are desperately needed by the US as it battles the Covid-19 pandemic with infections soaring to more than 644,000 and the death toll edging towards 29,000, the most worldwide.

“Health-care equipment maker PerkinElmer, based in Massachusetts, is unable to ship 1.4 million test kits from its Suzhou factory because it lacks a certification required by the new rules,” a State Department memo cited by the Journal said.

Credit: https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/china-blocks-us-medical-equipment-to-fight-covid-19/