The Covid-19 pandemic originated from the United States and not Wuhan, China said on Wednesday, accusing Washington of "shifting the blame". The statement came in response to the US government's latest claims that the virus likely leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China.
China hit back, accusing the US of "shamelessly politicising" the virus' origins.
In a white paper, Chinese officials said, "Substantial evidence suggested the Covid-19 might have emerged in the United States earlier than its officially-claimed timeline, and earlier than the outbreak in China." The paper also focused on Beijing's long-standing position that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely," citing a joint World Health Organization (WHO)-China study.
"The US government, instead of facing squarely its failure in response to COVID-19 and reflecting on its shortcomings, has tried to shift the blame and divert people's attention by shamelessly politicising SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing," the Chinese government said. The US should not "pretend to be deaf and dumb," they said.
The white paper alleged Washington evaded responsibility and attempted to distract from its mishandling of the pandemic. "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 document read. "The US cannot continue to turn a deaf ear to the numerous questions over its conduct," they said, as per Fox News.
The strongly worded document followed the White House's decision earlier this month to revamp its COVID.gov website. The updated site pushes the theory that COVID-19 leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, describes it as the "most likely" origin, and criticises former US officials such as Dr Anthony Fauci and former President Joe Biden.
"A lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is most likely the origin of COVID-19," reads the updated White House section. It also asserts that current oversight of such research is "incomplete, severely convoluted, and lack[s] global applicability."
The new US stance cites biological features in the virus that allegedly don't occur in nature and suggests that if a natural origin were true, evidence would have surfaced by now. The website also references a past lawsuit that resulted in a $24 billion judgment against China for allegedly hoarding protective gear and covering up the early outbreak, as per CNN.
Earlier this year, the CIA shifted its assessment, saying the pandemic most likely started in a lab, though the agency said it was "low confidence". In its conclusion, it said both lab and natural origins remain plausible.
An official from China's National Health Commission added that the next phase of COVID-19 origin tracing should focus on the US.
