The Chinese government demanded an explanation from Brazil after the Education Minister of the far-right government linked the Corona Virus pandemic to "Beijing's plan to take over the world."
In the latest incident that could cause tension in the relations between the two countries, Minister Abraham Winterop tweeted that China was behind the epidemic crisis the world is currently experiencing.
In his tweet, the minister asked: "From a geopolitical point of view, who will emerge stronger from this global crisis?" He added, "Who in Brazil is allied with this tight plan for world domination?" In the original Portuguese language in which the tweet was written, the minister sarcastically replaced the letter "r" in the word "Brazil" with the word "L" to become "blazel", as the Chinese usually pronounce it.
The Chinese embassy in Brazil condemned Wintrup's tweet, which she described as "ridiculous and very racist", and stressed that the Chinese government expects an official explanation from Brazil, as requested by the ambassador, Yang Wanming.
The dispute comes as Brazil, like many countries, hopes to get more medical equipment from China to deal with the Corona virus.
Wintrup said in an interview that he sticks to his tweet, and called on China to do more to help fight the epidemic. "If (China) sells us a thousand artificial respirators, I will kneel on my knees in front of the embassy, and I apologize and say I am an idiot," he told Radio Banderas.
Brazilian Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandita said last week that Brazil was fighting for artificial respirators and other vital health supplies from China, saying some of its orders had been canceled without explanation.
The case broke out on the Internet on Monday. The biggest trend on Twitter in Brazil was the tag «Opportunities to Ban China Now», and Brazil considers China to be its largest trading partner.
But since the epidemic appeared, relations between Brazil and China have been strained, especially because of a series of tweets from President Jair Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo, the federal legislator, who has criticized China.
Last week, Eduardo mentioned in the tweet the phrase "Chinese virus", a phrase that infuriates Beijing and advises the World Health Organization not to use it, and the same phrase is used by US President Donald Trump, and this was prompted by the Chinese Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, Li Yang To the question of Eduardo Bolsonaro in a column of opinion in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo: “Are you really naive and ignorant?”