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Donald Trump warned China that the US would respond "very strongly" if Beijing imposed tighter control over Hong Kong, as tensions rise between the two countries amid fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. China's government announced that national security legislation for Hong Kong will be proposed at its annual ‘rubber stamp’ parliamentary sessions, which opened yesterday, in the latest sign from Beijing plans to crack down on pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous territory. "If it happens, we'll address that very strongly," Mr Trump said as he took questions from the White House on Thursday. Mr Trump has stepped up his attacks on China over the coronavirus pandemic in recent days, appearing to directly blame Chinese president Xi Jinping for a campaign of "disinformation" that helped spread Covid-19 around the world. In a rare shot at his Chinese counterpart, the US president tweeted on Wednesday night: "It all comes from the top. They could have easily stopped the plague, but they didn’t!” Mr Trump's comments came as a study suggested that around 36,000 fewer Americans would have died from the pandemic if the US had imposed social distancing measures just one week earlier than it did in mid-March.

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