U.S. envoy blames China for endangering world with coronavirus

LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to London has said China had endangered the world by suppressing information about the coronavirus outbreak thus allowing it to spread far beyond the Communist republic's borders.

"First it tried to suppress the news," Ambassador Woody Johnson wrote in an article for The Times newspaper published on Thursday, adding that Beijing had then selectively shared critical information while stonewalling international health authorities.

"Had China done the right things at the right time, more of its own population, and the rest of the world, might have been spared the most serious impact of this disease," the ambassador wrote.

"When the crisis finally abates we should take stock of the outcome and evaluate the costs of this breakdown in international collaboration," he said. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden)