Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry Photo: cnsphoto

The only purpose for the political manipulation of COVID-19 origins by some people in the US is to shift the blame of their failure in COVID-19 response to China, but this will only end in another failure, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. 

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at Wednesday's media briefing that no matter how these people in the US changed their political tactics, the truth remained the same: More than 600,000 American lives were lost because US politicians ignored science and politicized the fight against COVID-19.

The authoritative conclusion of the WHO-China joint expert group will not change, and work on COVID-19 origins should be based on a global perspective and not limited to a certain region, Wang stressed.  

The general trend of the international community to respect science and uphold justice will remain unchanged, Wang noted. 

Wang's remarks were made in response to 24 international scientists' joint article which was published in The Lancet on Monday. The article reiterates their working view that "SARS-CoV-2 most likely originated in nature and not in a laboratory."

The scientists also reaffirmed their expression of solidarity with those in China who confronted the COVID-19 outbreak. 

"Regrettably, we have seen that some people in the US have been engaging in more blatant political maneuvers on the COVID-19 origins issue," Wang said.

They smear China's achievements in fighting against the pandemic, hype the lab-leak theory, denigrates the authoritative WHO-China joint report on COVID-19 origins and suppress scientists who take an objective stance, Wang said. 

On Tuesday's press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian slammed some countries, especially the US, saying that the so-called research on the origins of the COVID-19 they are conducting only aims to dodge their responsibilities and smear China. Zhao noted that they even "stretched their black hands into the field of science and made a partisan silence campaign on scientists."  

Global Times