China has a message for the U.S. Department of Energy, regarding the revised COVID-19 lab leak theory: “Stop smearing China.”
During a Monday press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that a March 2021 report published by China and the World Health Organization concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
“Certain parties should stop rehashing the ‘lab leak’ narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing origins-tracing,” Ning said, according to The Daily Wire.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that new classified intelligence revealed Energy Department officials revised a 2021 document from Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’ office to express “low confidence” that the virus leaked from a lab.
The lack of a confirmed animal source has caused U.S. officials and researchers to suspect the virus leaked from one of Wuhan’s myriad laboratories, the Journal reported. The updated report also supports the idea that COVID did not originate from a biological weapons program.
On Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said “scientific research can still occur, needs to occur, in a safe and secure manner,” regardless of the virus’ source.
Speaking with CNN, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan did not confirm or deny the report, but said that President Joe Biden ordered an investigation into the pandemic’s origins.
“President Biden specifically requested that the national labs, which are part of the Energy Department, be brought into this assessment because he wants to put every tool at use to be able to figure out what happened here,” Sullivan said, adding that there are several theories among the intelligence community.
“A number of them have said they just don’t have enough information,” he said.
A 90-day U.S. intelligence review into COVID’s origins, ordered by Biden in 2021, found that administration officials believed the lab leak theory and the natural emergence theory were equally as credible. Biden criticized China’s lack of transparency after the inquiry and promised to investigate further.
Chinese officials have repeatedly maintained they are not at fault, denying allegations from various individuals, including former President Donald Trump.
More than 6.8 million people diagnosed with COVID-19 have died since the earliest cases in Wuhan in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine data.
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