China tells US to stop 'slander' on Covid-19 origin
The United States should stop slandering China with the Covid-19 origin tracing issue and be transparent to accept investigations, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Monday.
The statement came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a recent interview that China hasn’t provided transparency and the US would hold China "accountable".
Wang reaffirmed that China has been cooperating with international experts on origin-tracing study in a science-based way, and the report on the study is authoritative.
"Tracing the origin of the virus is a scientific matter that should be...
The United States should stop slandering China with the Covid-19 origin tracing issue and be transparent to accept investigations, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin (above) on Monday.
The statement came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a recent interview that China hasn’t provided transparency and the US would hold China "accountable".
Wang reaffirmed that China has been cooperating with international experts on origin-tracing study in a science-based way, and the report on the study is authoritative.
"Tracing the origin of the virus is a scientific matter that should be studied by scientists worldwide in collaboration, rather than be politicised. World Health Organisation (WHO) experts have reached clear conclusions on this already. China has twice invited WHO experts in for origin study in an open and transparent manner," said Wang.
"The WHO released the report of the WHO-China joint study of the origins in March. Compiled in line with WHO procedures and following science-based methods, it was an authoritative and scientific report," he added.
The US is playing the "weapons of mass destruction (WMD)" trick again, Wang said.
In 2003, in disregard of the report submitted by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNSCOM) to the Security Council that Iraq does not possess weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the US directed its intelligence agencies to conduct so-called "investigations" based on presumption of guilt and made allegations founded on hypothesis rather than evidence, and mobilised media outlets to hype up the threat of Iraq's possession of WMD.
"The US moves to shift the blame of Covid-19 is no different from its lies on Iraq's possession of WMD. The international community should be vigilant about this. I'm sure such moves will be rejected by people with insight. We urge the US to stop politicising the study of origins, stop smearing China, adopt an open and transparent attitude on this issue, shoulder its due responsibilities and invite WHO experts for origin study in the US," said Wang.
- CCTV
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