Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused the United States of using coronavirus origin-tracing to suppress other countries, and he called the report political instead of scientific. He also pushed back against criticism from US officials that China has obstructed international efforts to get information about the earliest days of the pandemic, Washington Post reported.
“The United States says it lacks information from China,” Wang said at the ministry’s daily news conference, according to the state-run China News Service.
“I can tell the United States that this is just an excuse to cover up the failure of its intelligence in origin tracing.”
In a statement by the Chinese Embassy in the United States on the "COVID-19 Origin-Tracing" Report of the US Side, the embassy wrote: "On August 27, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States released a summary of the intelligence community assessment on COVID-19 origins, which does not rule out either natural exposure or laboratory accident as the origin of SARS-CoV-2."
"The report wrongly claims that China "continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries". The statement by the White House issued on the same day also purported that China tries to hold back international investigation and rejects calls for transparency. It urges like-minded partners to exert pressure on China."
"The Chinese side expresses its firm opposition and strong condemnation of this."
"China's position on global origin-tracing is consistent and clear. This is a matter of science. China always supports and will continue to participate in science-based origin-tracing. What we are against is political manipulation, the presumption of guilt, and putting blame on others. Any Phase II origins study must be a comprehensive extension of Phase I and conducted in multiple places and countries to find out the truth."
"The report by the U.S. intelligence community has not produced an exact answer the U.S. side wants. Continuing such an effort will also be in vain because its subject is simply non-existent and anti-science."
HJ/PR
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