Will Uncle Sam be able to continue deceiving the world in terms of investigation into COVID-19 origins?

The US should stop all scapegoating and blame-shifting moves and focus instead on domestic efforts and global cooperation in fighting COVID-19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Sunday in response to the so-called declassified assessment on COVID-19 origins released by the US intelligence agency.

The US should stop political manipulation and create conducive conditions for scientists all over the world to conduct origins-tracing cooperation. It should stop attacking and smearing China and respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community. It should receive World Health Organization experts and open up its biological labs at Fort Detrick and biological experiment bases for investigation, read the remarks made by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Sunday.  

Political manipulation and intelligence-led origins-tracing in disregard of international justice will only further undermine the general atmosphere for science-based global cooperation in origins-tracing, hamper international cooperation in combating COVID-19, and cost more lives, Wang stressed.

The remarks came as US intelligence agencies on Friday released a new, more detailed version of their August review of whether coronavirus came from animals or leaked from a lab.

When the US intelligence agency released the so-called unclassified summary of assessment on COVID-19 origins in August, China made clear its firm opposition. A lie repeated a thousand times is still a lie, Wang noted. 

China lodged solemn representations with the US after the intelligence-led origins-tracing report was first released in August, urging it to listen to doubts from the international community and stop politicizing the issue. The Chinese Embassy in the US released a statement slamming the move.

No matter how many times the report is published or how many versions it comes in, it will not change the fact that this report is in essence a political and false one, with no scientific basis or credibility, Wang said in the Sunday statement. 

The origins study of the novel coronavirus is a serious and complex scientific issue, which should and can only be carried out by global scientists in cooperation. The use of intelligence agencies to trace the origins is in itself an iron-clad proof of politicization. The US intelligence services have a deplorable track record, with their falsification and deception tactics known by the world, Wang stressed.

Recently, more than 80 countries have stated their explicit position of opposing politicization of origins-tracing and upholding the joint China-WHO study report through various means including writing to the WHO Director-General, releasing statements and sending notes. Over 300 political parties, civil organizations and think tanks from more than 100 countries and regions have submitted a joint statement opposing politicization of origins-tracing to the WHO Secretariat. These are voices of justice in the international community, Wang said.

Global Times