BEIJING (AP) — China on June 10 slammed the coronavirus pandemic as likely stemming from a leak in a Chinese lab, after the World Health Organization suggested in the strongest terms that a deeper investigation into the pandemic was needed theory, this is a politically motivated lie. Whether the lab accident is to blame.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also dismissed accusations that China had not fully cooperated with investigators, saying it welcomed a science-based investigation but rejected any political manipulation.
He also reiterated his call for an investigation into “highly suspicious labs like Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina” in the United States, where China suggested without evidence that the U.S. was developing the coronavirus as a biological weapon.
“The theory of laboratory leaks is completely a lie concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes, and has nothing to do with science,” Zhao said at his daily press conference.
“We have always supported and participated in science-based global virus tracing, but we firmly oppose any form of political manipulation,” he said, reiterating an explanation for China’s long-standing delay or refusal to conduct further investigations into the origin of the virus.
Zhao said China has made significant contributions in virus tracing, sharing the most data and research results.
This, he said, “fully reflects China’s open, transparent and responsible attitude, as well as its support for the work of the WHO and the advisory group.”
The WHO’s stance in a report released on June 9 deviates considerably from the UN health agency’s initial assessment of the origins of the pandemic. Many critics have previously accused the WHO of being too quick to dismiss or downplay the lab leak theory that has put Chinese officials on the defensive.
After a tightly controlled visit to China last year, the WHO concluded that it was “highly unlikely” that the coronavirus could spread to humans from a laboratory in the city of Wuhan. Many scientists suspect that the coronavirus may have been transmitted to humans from bats via another animal.
However, the WHO panel said in its report that “key data” explaining how the pandemic started is still missing. The scientists said the group would be “open to any and all scientific evidence available in the future so that all plausible hypotheses can be thoroughly tested.”
Determining the source of animal disease often takes years.It took scientists more than a decade to identify the bat species as the natural host for SARS, a relative of COVID-19
The panel also noted that the theory cannot be discounted because past laboratory accidents have sparked some outbreaks. They said China has not submitted to the WHO any studies assessing that the coronavirus may have been caused by a laboratory leak.
The new report points to a heightened confrontation between China’s authoritarian Communist Party leadership and the WHO, which was initially accused of being too submissive to Beijing, especially the former Trump administration in the United States.
The coronavirus has killed more than 6.3 million people globally, forced dozens of countries into lockdown and upended the world economy. It was first spotted in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and was initially associated with a traditional market that sold wild animals for food. China, accused of being slow to respond and covering up the severity of the outbreak, then locked down the entire city of Wuhan and surrounding areas in the first of a series of draconian measures labelled “Zero Covid-19,” which continue today as the world opens up again .
Last month, the World Health Organization called “zero Covid-19” unsustainable, pointing to increased knowledge about the virus and the cost to the economy and civil rights. China dismissed the criticisms as “irresponsible”.
China has also been accused of leading a disinformation campaign suggesting the virus was found elsewhere before the outbreak in Wuhan, and other theories aimed at diverting China’s attention.
The Associated Press investigation found that while the WHO was full of praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping, some top WHO insiders were frustrated with China in the early days of the outbreak. They are also disturbed by how China is trying to suppress research on the origins of COVID-19.
Zhao appeared to suggest that China would reject any criticism or suspicion of him.
“Research on the origin of the virus must adhere to scientific principles and should not be subject to political interference,” Zhao said.
