Readers are asking @FactCheck about an article on the @Daily_Express site which claims: "Germany sends China £130billion bill for & #39;coronavirus damages& #39; – sparks fury in Beijing." The headline is misleading (short thread).

The German state hasn& #39;t done anything of the kind. As the Express article admits, this refers to an opinion piece written (on Wednesday) by the editor of Bild, German& #39;s biggest newspaper. https://www.bild.de/bild-plus/politik/ausland/politik-ausland/bild-praesentiert-die-corona-rechnung-was-china-uns-jetzt-schon-schuldet-70044300,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html">https://www.bild.de/bild-plus...

The Express reports this as: "Berlin called out Beijing& #39;s responsibility for the global pandemic and even issued a £130bn invoice." Normally when journalists talk about "Germany" or "Berlin" doing something, they are talking about the government, not a newspaper.

In fact, German& #39;s foreign minister Heiko Maas told Bild the idea that China would pay compensation to other countries was "illusory": https://www.bild.de/video/clip/news/maas-zum-kampf-gegen-corona-illusorisch-das-geld-von-china-einzutreiben-70086882-70093826,auto=true.bild.html">https://www.bild.de/video/cli...