BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2021) The plan proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the second stage of investigations into the origins of COVID-19 echoes the US lab leak theory and is a product of political manipulation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday.
On Thursday, China's National Health Commission rejected the WHO plan for a second phase of the investigation, claiming its criteria were "insulting" and heavily suggested the laboratory leak possibility. In response, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki expressed Washington's disappointment with the decision and pledged to support the initiative despite Beijing's opposition.
"One cannot help but think that this work plan is made to echo the 'lab leak theory' advocated by certain countries such as the United States. And the lack of transparency in the drafting process also added to the suspicion that the work plan is the product of political manipulation," Zhao told a briefing.
He also stressed that China has always attached great importance to the issue of tracing the virus' origin, and promised that Beijing will continue its own investigations in the matter. At the same time, according to the spokesman, Beijing still hoped to further cooperate with the WHO as its key research partner on the next stage of the plan if it is revised.
"We hope that the WHO will uphold the spirit of science, professionalism and objectivity, work with the international community to safeguard the scientific nature and seriousness of the origins study, resist the retrogressive trend of politicizing the issue of origin-tracing, and jointly maintain a sound atmosphere for global anti-epidemic cooperation," Zhao said.
On Saturday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the second study will include an audit of labs and research facilities in the area where the first cases of COVID-19 were registered in December 2019. The new study is part of a five-stage plan which the WHO put together to identify where the coronavirus came from.
In March, the WHO published a report of the first fact-finding mission of its experts to Wuhan, where the world's first COVID-19 outbreak occurred. Experts concluded that the leakage of the virus from a state-run laboratory in Wuhan was "extremely unlikely." They also said that there was a high possibility that the virus was transmitted to humans from bats through another animal.
