Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to say whether the U.S. would persue some sort of punitive action against China following reports that it falsified its data on COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Both Pompeo and Donald Trump have stopped short of openly condemning China’s handling of its outbreak in Wuhan, though Pompeo did say China had a “special responsibility” to provide accurate data to the world as quickly as possible when its outbreak first started.

“This is not the time for retribution”, - he said, adding that the U.S. would look at whether China fulfilled its duty at a later date.

Pompeo also echoed Trump on whether the U.S. would freeze funding for the World Health Organization, which Trump has criticized as being too “China-centric” amid the pandemic.

The U.S. intelligence community had reportedly concluded by mid-March that China was actively falsifying its coronavirus cases and death numbers during and after the outbreak in Wuhan.