WASHINGTON: Italy donated Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to China when coronavirus was at its peak in China.

However, now Italy is in dire need of PPE, and China wants to sell them to Italy, a report in the Spectator magazine said.

The China-originated virus has wreaked havoc on the people, particularly the frontline warriors such as the doctors, nurses and security personnel.

China, in a bid to restore its humanitarian image, projected to the world that it would donate some PPE to Italy. However, it was later revealed that it was a business.

Media reports have claimed that Beijing had sold, not donated the PPE to Italy.

The Spectator quoted a senior Trump administration official as saying that China compelled Italy to buy back the PPE from it that Italy gave to China during the initial coronavirus outbreak in China.

The official said before the virus hit Europe, Italy had sent tons of PPE to China to support China protect its population.

Meanwhile, most of the testing kits and supplies that China sold to other countries turned out to be faulty.

It should be noted that Spain returned some 50,000 quick-testing kits to China after discovering that they were defective.

China, has meanwhile, blamed its defective equipment on others. The country asked The Netherlands to ‘double-check the instructions’ on the equipment.

(With inputs from ANI)