China has called on the United States to do its part to investigate the origins of COVID-19. In a news conference in Beijing on Friday, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson called on Washington to stop politicizing the virus and spreading lies. CGTN's Sun Ye has more.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian says the United States is the real party to blame for the failures to trace the origins of COVID-19.
Blasting American actions as a "disgrace," Zhao says Washington aims to deflect from their own responsibilities by smearing others.
ZHAO LIJIAN Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson "The United States has politicized the pandemic, stigmatized the virus and instrumentalized source tracing in order to shift responsibility for an inadequate response to the pandemic and achieve the political purpose of discrediting and suppressing other countries. Its standards have been lying, smearing and intimidation, with no respect for facts, science or justice. This ugly page for the United States will surely go down in the history of humanity's fight against the pandemic."
If the U.S. wants to be "transparent and responsible" in the efforts to trace the virus, Zhao suggests there are several things they could start to do.
For one, Zhao suggests the U.S. should publish details of its own early cases which include unidentified cases of a respiratory disease in Wisconsin in July 2019 and cases recorded in nursing homes near the Fort Detrick laboratory.
Second, Zhao suggests the U.S. should invite WHO experts to investigate Fort Detrick, along with the 200 plus biological labs outside the U.S. where cases that have symptoms similar to COVID-19 surfaced in 2019.
Zhao also suggests WHO experts should investigate relevant research institutions in the University of North Carolina.
And finally, Zhao says the U.S. should publish the case files of U.S. military personnel who attended the Wuhan Military Games in October 2019, providing clarity about their conditions.
SUN YE Beijing "In the long press briefing, Zhao also offered evidence he said proves the lab leak theory in Wuhan is 'extrememly unlikely.' He said, time and again, China has been working towards an open, transparent, scientific and cooperative investigation with the international community, but that it will not allow itself to be smeared and lied about. SY, CGTN, BJ."
