Oh really? China has issued a pointed response to ongoing accusations about the origins of COVID-19, shifting the blame toward the United States and criticizing Washington for what it describes as a failure to take responsibility for the pandemic.
Get this craziness. In a detailed document released by Chinese officials, the government accuses the U.S. of attempting to deflect from its own internal missteps. “The US should cease from shifting blame and evading responsibility, stop finding external excuses for its internal malaise, and genuinely reflect on and overhaul its public health policies,” the paper states. “The US cannot continue to turn a deaf ear to the numerous questions over its conduct.”
“The US cannot continue to turn a deaf ear to the numerous questions over its conduct,” the report reiterated.
What’s more, the release follows recent changes to the White House’s COVID.gov site, which now outlines a timeline and narrative supporting the theory that the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China. The updated platform presents information surrounding this theory, including past statements from officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and former President Joe Biden, as well as claims about the scientific nature of the virus that, according to the site, may not be naturally occurring.
The revamped website also highlights that the Wuhan area—where the virus was first identified—is home to a prominent lab conducting coronavirus research. It argues that a natural origin of the virus remains unproven, stating, “If there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn’t.”
Oh but wait, earlier this year, a report from the Central Intelligence Agency under the Trump administration concluded that a lab-related incident was the most likely source of the virus, a theory once widely dismissed but now regaining traction in certain U.S. circles.
Unsurprisingly, China, however, maintains its stance based on a joint investigation it conducted with the World Health Organization, which concluded that COVID-19 likely emerged through animal-to-human transmission, possibly involving bats and an intermediary species.
The detailed document goes further, criticizing how the U.S. responded to the pandemic in its early stages. “The slow and ineffective US response during the early stages of the outbreak set an appalling example to the international community and made the US performance in handling the pandemic the worst of all countries,” Chinese officials wrote. “Instead of facing this issue squarely and reflecting on its shortcomings, the US government has tried to shift the blame and divert people’s attention by shamelessly politicizing SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing.”