China must be “more honest” about the origins of Covid-19, the U.S. ambassador to China says, in remarks that were criticized by Beijing as politicizing the issue.
recently concluded with “low confidence” that the virus “likely” began with a laboratory leak in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where it emerged in late 2019. U.S. intelligence agencies are split in their assessments of the origins of the pandemic, with some concluding that it began with natural transmission from an infected animal while others are undecided., which is holding its first hearing Tuesday.
Burns made the remarks as part of a list of issues where he said “most Americans” would want the world’s two largest economies to work together, including“If we’re going to do something to strengthen the World Health Organization, then we’re going to have to push China to be more active in it and to of course be more honest about what happened three years ago in Wuhan with the origin of the Covid-19 crisis,” he said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that China had “always been open and transparent” about Covid-19 and that the United States was politicizing the issue. “As the U.S. ambassador to China, Mr. Burns should do more to improve China-U.S. relations and do more to promote mutual understanding,” the spokesperson, Mao Ning, said at a regular news briefing.
Mao had earlier criticized the Energy Department assessment as well, pointing to a 2021 report by a WHO mission to Wuhan that found it “extremely unlikely” that the virus originated in a lab. The U.S. and other countries later criticized the report, saying China had withheld data.
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