China accuses US of politicizing COVID-19 origins research
What's the story
China has gone on the offensive ahead of the release of a US intelligence report on the origins of the coronavirus, bringing out a senior official to accuse the US of politicizing the issue by seeking to blame China. At a briefing for foreign journalists on Wednesday, Fu Cong, a Foreign Ministry director-general, said that scapegoating China cannot whitewash the US.
Feud
US better be prepared to accept counterattack from China: Cong
If they want to baselessly accuse China, they better be prepared to accept the counterattack from China, he said. China, the US, and the World Health Organization are entangled in a feud that centers on whether the virus that causes COVID-19 could have leaked from a lab in the city of Wuhan, where the disease was first detected in late 2019.
Information
Joint WHO-China report concluded that lab leak was extremely unlikely
A joint WHO-China report published in March concluded that lab leak was extremely unlikely, and China wants the investigation to move on to other possibilities. The most likely scenario, the report said, is that virus jumped from bats to another animal that then infected humans.
Review
In May, Biden had ordered 90-day review of both theories
However, the findings are not conclusive, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said all hypotheses are on the table and warrant complete and further studies. He added in July that there had been a premature push to rule out the lab leak theory. In May, President Joe Biden ordered a 90-day review by intelligence agencies of both theories.
Report
The feud has delayed the next phase of research
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden received the report and a classified briefing was held about it on Tuesday, and that an unclassified summary is being prepared expeditiously for public release. The feud over whether to keep pursuing lab leak theory has delayed the next phase of research.
Information
Virus could have escaped from a US military lab: China
China has responded to continuing speculation about a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology by suggesting the virus could have escaped from Fort Detrick, a US military lab in Maryland. Cong denied that China is engaging in a disinformation campaign.