BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping assured his US counterpart on Friday that China was doing all it can to contain a new coronavirus that has killed almost 640 people, including a doctor who sounded the alarm only to be threatened by police. China was gradually achieving results and was confident it could defeat the epidemic with no long-term consequences for economic development, Xi told President Donald Trump in a telephone call, according to state television. Trump, after the phone conversation with the Chinese president said that Beijing is showing “great discipline” in tackling the coronavirus outbreak. “Nothing is easy, but he will be successful, especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone,” Trump said on Twitter. — Reuters
