China urges US to immediately work with WHO on COVID-19 origin tracing

BEIJING -- China on Thursday urged the United States to immediately work with the World Health Organization (WHO) on COVID-19 origin tracing in a science-based way like China did.

Since the United States has repeatedly asked China to be part of a comprehensive, transparent and evidence-based international investigation, the United States should likewise fully respond to the concerns of the international community, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing.

He made the remarks in response to a question related to US President Joe Biden's call for a US-based probe into the origins of COVID-19. On Wednesday, Biden gave US intelligence agencies 90 days to report on whether the virus originated from an animal source or from a laboratory accident, calling on China to cooperate with international investigations.

Zhao said a research report of the joint WHO-China study had presented authoritative, formal and scientific conclusions, which stressed it is "extremely unlikely" that the virus was leaked from a Chinese laboratory.

The international expert team has made positive comments on China's open and transparent attitude on many occasions, he added.

However, some people in the United States have repeatedly called for a reinvestigation of China, ignoring the facts and science, as well as the questions surrounding their own traceability and their tragic failure in the COVID-19 fight, Zhao said.

This fully shows that the US side doesn't care about the facts or the truth at all, and is not interested in serious scientific origin tracing, he added.

"Instead, they want to use the epidemic to stigmatise and engage in political manipulation, and to shift the blame," Zhao said.