China accused the United States on Wednesday of being the true source of COVID-19, as tensions over the origins of the virus once again flared into the international spotlight. The accusation came in the form of a sharply worded white paper released by the Chinese government, claiming that the U.S. is “shamelessly politicizing” the pandemic and attempting to deflect from its own failings. Beijing’s fiery rebuttal followed a recent push from the White House suggesting that the virus likely leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where gain-of-function research was allegedly being conducted. A section of a newly updated government webpage explicitly claims that “a lab-related incident” is now considered the most probable origin of the deadly pandemic that has claimed millions of lives. “The U.S. government, instead of facing squarely its failure in response to COVID-19… has tried to shift the blame and divert people’s attention,” the Chinese paper declared. The document insists that “substantial evidence” suggests the virus may have been circulating in the U.S. before China’s first known outbreak in Wuhan in late 2019. The renewed battle over COVID’s origins comes as multiple U.S. agencies—including the CIA and FBI—have leaned toward the lab leak theory, though the CIA maintains “low confidence” in its assessment and admits that a natural origin remains possible. A House panel has also weighed in, citing growing concerns over the security of gain-of-function research and the inadequacy of current global oversight mechanisms. Still, China stood by the results of a 2021 joint study conducted with the World Health Organization, which deemed a lab leak “extremely unlikely” and concluded the virus likely jumped from bats to humans via an intermediary species. Beijing went further, accusing the U.S. of undermining global cooperation during the pandemic and lambasting its public health response. “It has severely undermined joint international efforts… and become a weak link in global public health governance,” Chinese officials wrote. The report also alleged the U.S. has failed to adequately address questions surrounding its own COVID timeline and response. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)