On Tuesday, China reiterated its rejection of the accusations made by Washington regarding the origin of the coronavirus. The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated, "The American accusations against us regarding the origin of COVID-19 are a politicization of a health issue." It continued, "Washington's accusation against us of a COVID-19 leak is akin to its charges against Iraq regarding weapons of mass destruction" during former President George W. Bush's administration in 2003.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi compared the COVID-19 pandemic, during a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to previous economic crises, the outbreak of SARS in 2003, and the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. This comes as the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing informed sources, that a report on the origins of COVID-19 prepared by a U.S. government lab concluded that the theory of the virus leaking from a Chinese lab in Wuhan is plausible and merits further investigation. The study was conducted in May 2020 by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and was referred to by the State Department when it conducted an investigation into the origins of the virus during the final months of former President Donald Trump's administration.
Additionally, a senior official from the World Health Organization (WHO) stated on Monday that the organization cannot compel China to disclose more information about the origins of COVID-19 but clarified that it would recommend conducting necessary studies to determine where the virus transitioned to "the next stage." After persistent questioning from a journalist about how the organization would "force" China to be more transparent, Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, stated, "The WHO does not have the capacity to force anyone in this regard." He added, "We expect cooperation, contribution, and full support from all member states in this endeavor."
The theories regarding the origins of the virus are conflicting, ranging from transmission from animals, possibly starting from bats, to a leak from a lab in Wuhan, China. Team members from the organization who visited China earlier this year to investigate the origins of COVID-19 claimed they did not receive all the necessary data from Beijing, raising controversies about China's transparency.
