China accuses United States of 'politicisation' over COVID-19 origin report

China has ruled out a laboratory breach and denied the idea that coronavirus escaped from a facility in Wuhan, where COVID-19 infections first surfaced in late 2019, beginning the outbreak.

China accuses United States COVID-19 origin report gcw

Team Newsable

Beijing, First Published Aug 26, 2021, 11:15 AM IST | Last Updated Aug 26, 2021, 11:15 AM IST

China has accused the United States of 'politicisation' and 'scapegoating' in its efforts to track out the source of the coronavirus. After releasing an intelligence report on the COVID-19, China asked that American laboratories be probed, despite the lack of proof. Due to a lack of evidence given by China, a secret US intelligence assessment recently presented to the White House was unable to identify the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

The assessment study, commissioned by President Joe Biden three months ago, was unable to determine whether the virus, which initially appeared in central China, had crossed to people via animals or fled a highly guarded research facility in Wuhan.

Also Read | WHO sets up new expert committee to study origins of COVID-19 further

The US study was meant to settle disagreements among intelligence agencies on how the coronavirus developed, including a previously disregarded idea about a Chinese laboratory accident.

During a news briefing, Fu Cong, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' weapons control department, stated that blaming China cannot be used to justify the US.
China has ruled out a laboratory breach and denied the idea that coronavirus escaped from a facility in Wuhan, where COVID-19 infections first surfaced in late 2019, beginning the outbreak.

Also Read | 'China covered up Wuhan lab leak of COVID, WHO involved,' suggest US GOP report

Instead, Beijing claims that the virus escaped from a facility at the US Army's Fort Detrick installation in Maryland in 2019. After US media rejected its editorial contributions, the Chinese embassy in Washington issued demands for World Health Organization investigations at Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina on its website on Wednesday. On Tuesday, China's representative to the United Nations requested that the WHO's director conduct an inquiry into US labs. Although the US expressed reservations about the investigation's access, a combined WHO-Chinese team visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

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