China Refutes COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory, Calls for End to Politicization

China has stated that the COVID-19 pandemic did not originate from a laboratory leak, contrary to the recent assessment by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning on Monday emphasized that “the conclusion that a laboratory leak is extremely unlikely was reached by the China-WHO joint expert team based on field visits to relevant laboratories in Wuhan”.

Mao Ning added, “This has been widely recognised by the international community and the scientific community.” However, the CIA has expressed a differing opinion, stating that the virus was “more likely” leaked from a Chinese lab than transmitted by animals.

A CIA spokesperson explained, “CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the Covid-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting.” This new assessment comes after John Ratcliffe was confirmed as the CIA director under the second White House administration of Donald Trump.

In response, Beijing has urged the United States to “stop politicising and instrumentalising the issue of origin-tracing”. Mao Ning stressed that Washington should “stop smearing and shifting the blame to other countries (and) should respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community as soon as possible”.

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