• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Sci-tech

China criticises US ‘scapegoating’ over COVID origin report

26 August 2021, 12:33 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
China has said a laboratory leak was highly unlikely, and it has ridiculed a theory that coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 infections emerged in late 2019, setting off the pandemic.

China has said a laboratory leak was highly unlikely, and it has ridiculed a theory that coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 infections emerged in late 2019, setting off the pandemic.

Image: Reuters

China has said a laboratory leak was highly unlikely, and it has ridiculed a theory that coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 infections emerged in late 2019, setting off the pandemic.

China on Wednesday criticised the US “politicisation” of efforts to trace the origin of the coronavirus, demanding without any evidence that American labs be investigated, ahead of the release of a US intelligence report on the virus.

The US report is intended to resolve disputes among intelligence agencies considering different theories about how the coronavirus emerged, including a once-dismissed theory about a Chinese laboratory accident.

“Scapegoating China cannot whitewash the US,” Fu Cong, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ arms control department, told a briefing.

A White House official said on Wednesday that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the classified report. “We look forward to having an unclassified summary of key judgments to share soon,” the official said.

US officials say they did not expect the review to lead to firm conclusions after China stymied earlier international efforts to gather key information on the ground.

China has said a laboratory leak was highly unlikely, and it has ridiculed a theory that coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 infections emerged in late 2019, setting off the pandemic.

Beijing has instead suggested that the virus slipped out of a lab at the US Army’s Fort Detrick base in Maryland in 2019.

“It is only fair that if the US insists that this is a valid hypothesis, they should do their turn and invite the investigation into their labs,” said Fu.

The fringe idea once put forward by individual Chinese officials – which lacks any public evidence – has become a Chinese government talking point as it attempts to deflect criticism about its possible role in the origins of the virus.

On Wednesday, the Chinese embassy in Washington posted the calls for World Health Organisation investigations at Fort Detrick and at the University of North Carolina to its website after it said US media had rejected its editorial submissions.

And on Tuesday, China’s envoy to the United Nations asked the head of the WHO for an investigation into US labs.

A joint WHO-Chinese team visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology but the United States said it had concerns about the access granted to the investigation.

“The early days of the pandemic were irrefutably in China, yet China continues to obfuscate and deny the international community the needed access,” a senior US administration official said, adding that if a future pandemic were to originate in the United States, it would insist on a “swift and transparent” evaluation.

“If there were sound, technically credible reasons for a US investigation, we would of course support it. But there are none,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

When asked if China would stop talking about the Fort Detrick laboratory if the US report concluded the virus did not leak from a Chinese lab, Fu said: “That is a hypothetical question, you need to ask the US.”

Fu said China was not engaged in a disinformation campaign.

Share article
Previous Post

Pfizer seeks US approval for COVID vaccine booster

Next Post

Wall Street hits records on economic optimism; dollar falls

Related Posts

Balloons with pink ribbons representing cancer awareness.

Health MEC says cancer misinformation is a big threat in KZN

4 February 2023, 3:20 PM
The word 'cancer' highlighted through a magnifying glass

‘Early detection can significantly reduce impact and cost of cancer’

4 February 2023, 10:53 AM
[FILE IMAGE] A vial of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and an information sheet is seen at Boston Children's Hospital in Boston.

37 measles cases confirmed in Gauteng, five in Western Cape

3 February 2023, 9:03 PM
Bottle of water

Heatwave-hit Northern Cape sees an increase in heat-related incidents

3 February 2023, 6:00 PM
Shell petrol station

Activist group accuses Shell of misleading investors on renewables

1 February 2023, 3:40 PM
Researchers studying the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis test samples in a laboratory run by South African biotech company TASK in Cape Town, South Africa, May 11, 2020.

SA admitted to a prestigious international science program

1 February 2023, 8:53 AM
Next Post
The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at all-time record highs, while the Dow made gains led by financials, industrials, communications and the consumer discretionary sector.

Wall Street hits records on economic optimism; dollar falls

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • King of Bacardi music ‘Vusi Ma R5’ killed in Soshanguve
  • Committee wants to halt planned demolition of North West hospital
  • Shock over proposed SA sponsorship of Tottenham Hotspur
  • VIDEO: Mabuza resigns as SA Deputy President
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • VIDEO: Mabuza resigns as SA Deputy President
  • Three SA Tourism board members resign
  • Communities in Free State continue to struggle to obtain basic services amid power cuts
  • EFF vows to disrupt SONA
  • Free State ANC to decide on Premier Sisi Ntombela’s future

LATEST

Premier Sisi Ntombela lost the Free State ANC leadership contest to Cooperative Governance MEC, Mxolisi Dukwana.
  • Politics

Free State Premier says she’s yet to be informed of PEC outcomes


People attend the ecumenical prayer led by Pope Francis at John Garang Mausoleum during his apostolic journey, in Juba, South Sudan, February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jok Solomun
  • Africa

Protect, advance women for a better South Sudan, pope says


Deputy President David Mabuza
  • Politics

UPDATE | David Mabuza’s resignation widely anticipated: Analysts


Rescuers use a crane to remove debris of a multistorey residential building damaged in recent shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Pavel Klimov
  • World

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says situation at the front getting tougher


A picture of bullets, a gun and police tape.
  • South Africa

Criminal syndicate within ANC benefited from defunct VBS Bank: Mapaila


Mamelodi Sundowns registered 1-0 win over Orlando Pirates at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
  • Sport
  • Soccer

Sundowns’ DSTV Premiership dominance continues


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Pfizer seeks US approval for COVID vaccine booster
Next Wall Street hits records on economic optimism; dollar falls