China once again attempts to escape from COVID-19 origins after WHO releases report

Beijing, April 1: After the World Health Organization (WHO) released the report on COVID-19 origins, several international communities have raised questions on the credibility and transparency of the report. Amid this, China too tried to accuse the other international platforms to trace the "source of the coronavirus" and should start looking for clues in other countries.

 

 

"To trace the origins of COVID-19, attention should now be turned to other countries," Liang Wannian, team leader of the Chinese side of the WHO-China joint expert team was quoted as saying in an article in Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid owned by China's ruling Communist Party.

 

The Chinese foreign ministry also echoed the same sentiment, saying in a statement that the investigation into the origins of the virus was a "global mission that should be conducted in multiple countries and localities." It has also said that the it was "immoral" and "unpopular" to politicize the issue of virus origin tracing after 14 countries, including the United States, raised concerns in a joint statement on the World Health Organization report released Tuesday, following its Wuhan investigation.

 

 

"We have repeatedly emphasized that origin tracing is a scientific issue, and it should be carried out cooperatively by global scientists and cannot be politicized, which is also the consensus of most countries," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying in a regular briefing Wednesday.

 

Hua said the joint statement questioning the report is concrete evidence that countries like the US "disrespect science" and "engage in political manipulation."

 

 

 

"Study of origins is a matter of science, which should be jointly conducted by scientists all over the world. To politicize this issue will only severely hinder global cooperation in the study of origins, jeopardize anti-pandemic cooperation, and cost more lives. It would run counter to the international community's aspiration for solidarity against the virus," the Ministry said.

 

 

The Ministry further claimed that from January 14 to February 10 this year, Chinese experts and international experts from WHO and ten countries formed a joint team and conducted joint research for 28 days in Wuhan. "The Chinese side offered necessary facilitation for the team's work, fully demonstrating its openness, transparency and responsible attitude," it said.

 

China and WHO, both has agreed that the allegation of lab leaking is "extremely unlikely", and this is an important scientific conclusion made clear in the joint study report released this time, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

 

Accusing the western media and the international platforms including the White House, the Global Times said that it is a "consiparcy" that serves as ammunition for Western media and politicians to disparage China.

 

 

On Tuesday, a 124-page WHO report was released which involved a team of 17 Chinese scientists and 17 global experts. They concluded that the coronavirus probably emerged in bats before spreading to humans through an intermediate animal.

 

 

However, speaking in the briefing Tuesday, WHO chief Tedros conceded the international experts faced problems with data access in Wuhan. "In my discussions with the team, they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data. I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing," said Tedros, who had previously faced criticism that his agency was too close to China.

 

However, the US government was much more direct and strongly-worded. "The report lacks crucial data, information and data access -- and represents a partial, incomplete picture," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing, as quoted by CNN.

 

 

She said Chinese authorities "have not been transparent, have not provided underlying data -- that certainly does not qualify as cooperation." "[The report] doesn't lead us to any closer of an understanding or greater knowledge than we had six to nine months ago about the origin," she said.

 

China has been criticised widely across the world for its alleged role in the spread of the novel coronavirus that has infected over 128 million people across the world. More than 2.8 million people have succumbed to the plague worldwide, as per the latest data provided by Johns Hopkins University.