Zhao Lijian

China's foreign ministry spokesperson called a remark by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan "a blatant threat" in which Sullivan said that China will face international "isolation" if it does not cooperate on coronavirus origin probe.

Sullivan's claim is blatant blackmail and a threat, which China strongly objects to and will never accept, said spokesperson Zhao Lijian at a Monday briefing. 

Zhao made the remark after Sullivan told "Fox News Sunday" that Beijing will face "isolation in the international community" if it does not cooperate with further probes into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.

Zhao said it is baseless to accuse China of not cooperating with the coronavirus origins probe, and that China facing international "isolation" is a "sensational claim." China has contributed its fair share to the virus origins probe, as it has invited WHO experts to come to the country twice to investigate the matter, while the US has been politicizing the investigation by dispatching intelligence groups, instead of scientists, to do the evaluation. 

Zhao pointed out that the US' constant attacks on China regarding this issue only serves Washington's goal of countering China's development and chiding China due to its own bungling efforts to control the pandemic. 

Zhao said if the US really cares about the truth, it should answer three questions, the first being who should be blamed for failing to contain the infections.

The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the US have topped 33.54 million and 600,000 respectively. The US, the country with the most advanced medical and technical technology in the world, should ask itself how to prevent the tragedy from repeating itself.

Zhao then cited the study of more than 24,000 samples taken for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research program in the US between January 2 and March 18, 2020, which suggested that coronavirus existed in the US in as early as December 2019. He urged the US government to roll out a solid and transparent investigation on this issue. 

Zhao also urged the US to disclose the real situation of the biological lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland. He said that at the same time the lab suspended its research work, there had been an e-cigarette (vaping) associated lung injury outbreak in Wisconsin. But so far, the US government has not given any explanation on this matter.

Considering the US government's "gatekeeper" mentality, and its old practices of destroying key evidence in the Tulsa race massacre and manipulating the transmission of information, as well as its intelligence agencies' lying habits, what should the US do to convince people to ensure its own transparency, and why has it not given access to international experts to know what they need to know, asked Zhao. 

Global Times