China called the theory that the coronavirus pandemic was caused by a leak from a Chinese laboratory a politically motivated lie on Friday, after the World Health Organization recommended in the strongest terms yet that a deeper investigation is needed to determine whether a lab accident was to blame.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhao Lijian also denied charges that China had not fully cooperated with investigators, stating that China supported a scientific investigation but condemned any political manipulation. He also reaffirmed requests for a probe into ‘very suspect labs such as Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina’ in the United States, where China has asserted, without evidence, that the US was developing the coronavirus as a bioweapon.
‘The lab leak allegation is a complete fabrication manufactured by anti-China forces for political goals with nothing to do with science. We have always supported and engaged in worldwide viral tracing based on science, but we are vehemently opposed to any type of political manipulation’, he stated. According to Zhao, China has made significant contributions to viral tracing by providing the most data and research findings. This ‘completely shows China’s open, transparent, and responsible approach, as well as its support for the WHO’s and the advisory group’s work,’ he added.
The WHO’s position in a study issued on Thursday is a striking reversal of the United Nations health agency’s first assessment of the pandemic’s origins. It comes after several opponents accused WHO of dismissing or downplaying a lab-leak allegation that placed Chinese officials on the defensive. Following a closely monitored visit to China last year, the WHO decided that the coronavirus was ‘very improbable’ to have transmitted to humans from a facility in the city of Wuhan. Many experts believe the coronavirus spread from bats to humans via another species.
However, the WHO expert committee stated in the Thursday study that ‘important pieces of evidence’ to explain how the epidemic began were still absent. According to the experts, the organization would ‘remain open to any and all scientific data that becomes available in the future to allow for a complete assessment of all credible ideas’. In most cases, determining the origins of an illness in animals takes years. It took scientists more than a decade to identify the bat species that were the natural reservoir for SARS, a cousin of COVID-19. The WHO expert committee also stated that because lab mishaps have previously caused epidemics, the highly politicized idea could not be dismissed.
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