On Friday, China attacked the theory that the coronavirus pandemic could have originated as a leak from a Chinese laboratory as a lie for political reasons, after the World Health Organization recommended in its strongest terms that further investigation was needed into whether a laboratory accident could occur. blame.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also denied allegations that China had not fully cooperated with investigators, saying it welcomed a science-based investigation but rejected any political manipulation.
He also reiterated calls for an investigation into “highly suspicious laboratories such as Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina” in the United States where China has suggested, without evidence, that the United States was developing coronavirus as a biological weapon.
China attacked the theory of the origins of the pandemic after the World Health Organization recommended in its strongest terms that further research be needed. (AP)
“The theory of laboratory leaks is totally a lie invented by anti-Chinese forces for political purposes, which has nothing to do with science,” Zhao said in a daily briefing.
“We have always supported and participated in science-based global virus scanning, but we have strongly opposed any form of political manipulation,” he said.
Zhao said China has made significant contributions to virus scanning, sharing most of the data and results of the research.
This “fully reflects China’s open, transparent and responsible attitude, as well as its support for the work of the WHO and the advisory group,” he said.
Zhao said China has made significant contributions to virus scanning, sharing most of the data and results of the research. (Photo by AP / Ng Han Guan)
The WHO’s position in a report released on Thursday is a sharp reversal of the UN health agency’s initial assessment of the origins of the pandemic.
It comes after many critics accused the WHO of being too quick to dismiss or underestimate a theory of laboratory leaks that put Chinese officials on the defensive.
After a very controlled visit to China last year, the WHO concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus would have spread to humans from a laboratory in Wuhan City. Many scientists suspect that the coronavirus jumped from bats to humans, possibly through another animal.
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However, in a report on Thursday, the WHO expert group said “key data” were still missing to explain how the pandemic began. The scientists said the group “would remain open to any scientific evidence that would be available in the future to allow a thorough proof of all reasonable hypotheses.”
Identifying the origin of a disease in animals usually takes years. It took scientists more than a decade to identify the species of bats that were the natural reservoir of SARS, a relative of COVID-19.
The WHO expert group also noted that as laboratory accidents in the past have triggered some outbreaks, the highly politicized theory cannot be ruled out.