China on Wednesday aimed harsh criticism at the United States, accusing Washington of being the true source of the COVID-19 pandemic and of trying to deflect responsibility. The allegation followed President Trump’s remarks asserting that the virus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan.
In a strongly worded white paper, the Chinese government asserted that there was “substantial evidence” pointing to the virus emerging in the United States prior to its appearance in China. At the same time, it dismissed the theory of a lab leak in Wuhan as “extremely unlikely.”
“The US government, instead of facing squarely its failure in response to Covid-19 and reflecting on its shortcomings, has tried to shift the blame and divert people’s attention by shamelessly politicizing SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing,” Chinese officials complained.
The document put forth claims that the virus had been spreading in America before it was officially identified there, suggesting a possible alternative timeline.
These claims came in the wake of a revamped COVID-19 section on the White House’s official site, where the administration promoted the theory that the virus had escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“A lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely the origin of COVID-19,” according to a section on the new White House webpage.
“Current government mechanisms for overseeing this dangerous gain-of-function research are incomplete, severely convoluted, and lack global applicability.”
Back in January, the CIA shifted its stance, saying a lab-based origin of the virus seemed more probable than a natural spillover, though the agency acknowledged it held only “low confidence” in that assessment and that both scenarios were still on the table.
That view was echoed by several U.S. government entities, including the FBI and a congressional committee, which also leaned toward the lab origin theory while not completely ruling out a natural source.
China countered with references to a previous investigation carried out jointly with the World Health Organization, which concluded that the virus most likely made its way to humans via bats, through an intermediate animal host.
The white paper also criticized the United States’ pandemic response, accusing it of weakening global cooperation in tackling the health crisis.
“It has severely undermined joint international efforts in the fight against the pandemic and become a weak link in global public health governance,” China said — despite widespread international accusations that Beijing itself had concealed early information about the outbreak.
“The US cannot continue to turn a deaf ear to the numerous questions over its conduct,” Chinese officials wrote in part of the report.
{Matzav.com}