Zhao Lijian

The US has no right to blackmail or threaten China on the issue of the coronavirus origins probe, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response to the White House's announcement that the US and its allies will "work together" to exercise necessary pressure on China regarding this issue. 

China has repeatedly made clear its stance on the coronavirus origins investigation, said Zhao Lijian, noting that the US has no right to blackmail or threaten China on this issue, nor is it qualified to throw mud at China on behalf of international society.

Zhao made the remarks after the White House said that the US and its allies will "work together" to "exercise the necessary pressure on China" amid the global investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, urging Beijing to be a "participant" and provide "transparent data and access" to the probe, Fox News reported on Tuesday.

The media outlet said it comes as some Republicans criticized the White House for what they call "vague threats and cheap talk" about pressing China.

The US politicization of the coronavirus origins probe has put the issue back on the table in an array of disputes between China and the US, with the US constantly hyping the Wuhan lab leak conspiracy. A source close to the WHO-China joint team on the virus origins probe told the Global Times that he has been threatened by far-right extremists in the US via email and the phone after he publically denied such a conspiracy.

"We have more armed extremists in the US than anywhere, and GOP members of Congress are whipping them up right now," he said. 

Zhao reiterated his statement on Monday, urging the US to investigate its own bearing with the coronavirus origins, probe into factors and those responsible in the country's bungling of the pandemic and look into the biological lab at Fort Detrick and its other bio labs overseas. 

"We also urge the international society to work together, and ask the US to cooperate with the investigation, as well as provide transparent data," said Zhao. 

Global Times