China slams revived conspiracy theory over COVID-19 origin as ‘extremely unethical’

China has reacted to resurfaced allegations that the COVID-19 virus may have leaked from a Chinese lab, slamming the politicizing of the search for the origins of the virus as “extremely unethical”.

“This practice of politicizing the search for the origins of the virus is extremely unethical,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

She underlined that the researchers had been granted full access to the data they requested.

The remarks came a dat after the World Health Organization (WHO) chief stressed that “all hypotheses are open” and “warrant complete and further studies.”

In a joint statement, the United States and 13 other countries also voiced concerns that the WHO report on the origins of the novel coronavirus was delayed and lacked access to complete data.

“It is equally essential that we voice our shared concerns that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples,” read the joint statement.

While China was not directly mentioned by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus or the joint statement, it responded by saying that it had shown “its openness, transparency and responsible attitude.”

Experts backed by the WHO had already said after visiting Wuhan it was “extremely unlikely” that the deadly virus emerged from a Chines lab.

Former US President Donald Trump had attacked China over its alleged lack of transparency, claiming repeatedly that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had been the source of the novel coronavirus.

The Chinese lab origin conspiracy theory was heavily pushed by the Trump administration officials, including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who claimed last year that the outbreak originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

“I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan,” Pompeo told ABC News in May, without providing any evidence.

At the time, WHO officials said the US provided no evidence to support the claims of Trump and Pompeo over the origin of the virus.

“We have not received any data or specific evidence from the United States government relating to the purported origin of the virus -- so from our perspective, this remains speculative,” said WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan.

Beijing has also repeatedly rejected the allegations.

A senior Chinese health official dismissed the revived allegations, saying on Wednesday that there is no factual basis to the claim.

Liang Wannian, the head of China’s expert panel on the outbreak, told reporters in Beijing that the Chinese and international researchers had had access to the same data, adding that the Chinese part of the joint research had now been completed

He also said the world now needs to look further into potential early cases of COVID-19 outside China in the next phase of its research into the origins of the pandemic.

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