The United States on Wednesday claimed a United Nations meeting of world leaders on the Covid-19 pandemic was being designed to allow Beijing to spread “propaganda,” stoking months of bickering at the world body between the superpowers.

The two-day meeting of the UN General Assembly begins Thursday with some 53 heads of state, 39 heads of government and 38 ministers due to make pre-recorded video statements, including US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.