China rejects WHO's plan for second COVID-19 origins study
Zeng Yixin, deputy minister of the National Health Commission, told reporters Thursday that China rejects the World Health Organization's proposed plan to conduct a second investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zeng Yixin, deputy minister of the National Health Commission, told reporters Thursday that China rejects the World Health Organization's proposed plan to conduct a second investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
File Photo by Wu Hong/EPA-EFE
July 22 (UPI) -- A senior official with China's leading health authority on Thursday rejected the World Health Organization's proposed plan to conduct a second investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, stating he was "surprised" that it included probing the theory that COVID-19 escaped from a virology lab.
Zeng Yixin, deputy minister of the National Health Commission, accused the WHO during a press conference Thursday of "arrogance" for considering the lab leak theory.
"This phase 2 study of origin tracing is both disrespectful to common sense and contrary to science in some aspect," he said. "There is no way that we accept such an origin tracing study proposal."
The once-considered conspiracy theory that COVID-19 leaked from a virology lab in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the virus was first detected in late 2019 has regained attention in recent months, especially following the completion of the WHO's first investigation into the Asian nation's outbreak.
In late March, a joint WHO-China team of experts produced the long-awaited report, stating the virus likely came not from a wet Wuhan market but from wildlife farms in Southeast Asia. The report also dismissed the lab leak theory as "an extremely unlikely pathway."
The report, however, came under swift and widespread criticism from the United States, the European Union and more than a dozen nations calling for a second probe after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states that he doesn't believe that "this assessment was extensive enough" as China did not permit full access to pertinent data.
Scientists have called for an investigation into lab leak theory as there wasn't enough evidence to rule out that the virus didn't escape through a laboratory accident. U.S. President Joe Biden has also directed his intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of the virus and joined the other leaders of the G7 in calling for a new probe
On Friday, Tedros announced that WHO member states had received a proposed plan for a second study designed to prob five areas, including "audits of relevant laboratories and research institutions operating in the area of the initial human cases identified in December 2019."
Tedros had told reporters the day before that the first probe produced progress but the team was not provided access to raw data concerning the start of the pandemic.
"We have designed the second phase of the study and we are asking China to be transparent, open and cooperate on the information raw data that we asked for in the early days of the pandemic," he said.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian dismissed Tedros' claim to reporters, saying China did show data to the scientists while repeating China's call for origin studies to be conducted outside of its borders.
"We need to search for possible early cases globally and further understand the role of cold chains and frozen foods in the transmission of the virus," he said, repeating a claim by China that the virus came to Wuhan through frozen food and that Tedros was politicizing something which should be driven by science.
Zeng on Thursday also called for a global study, saying any further investigations should be based on the foundation of the first probe.
"[We] should promote a global study involving multiple countries and locations involving early case findings, molecular epidemiology and animal intermediate host traceability," he said.
July 22 (UPI) -- A senior official with China's leading health authority on Thursday rejected the World Health Organization's proposed plan to conduct a second investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, stating he was "surprised" that it included probing the theory that COVID-19 escaped from a virology lab.
Zeng Yixin, deputy minister of the National Health Commission, accused the WHO during a press conference Thursday of "arrogance" for considering the lab leak theory.
"This phase 2 study of origin tracing is both disrespectful to common sense and contrary to science in some aspect," he said. "There is no way that we accept such an origin tracing study proposal."
The once-considered conspiracy theory that COVID-19 leaked from a virology lab in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the virus was first detected in late 2019 has regained attention in recent months, especially following the completion of the WHO's first investigation into the Asian nation's outbreak.
In late March, a joint WHO-China team of experts produced the long-awaited report, stating the virus likely came not from a wet Wuhan market but from wildlife farms in Southeast Asia. The report also dismissed the lab leak theory as "an extremely unlikely pathway."
The report, however, came under swift and widespread criticism from the United States, the European Union and more than a dozen nations calling for a second probe after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states that he doesn't believe that "this assessment was extensive enough" as China did not permit full access to pertinent data.
Scientists have called for an investigation into lab leak theory as there wasn't enough evidence to rule out that the virus didn't escape through a laboratory accident. U.S. President Joe Biden has also directed his intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of the virus and joined the other leaders of the G7 in calling for a new probe
On Friday, Tedros announced that WHO member states had received a proposed plan for a second study designed to prob five areas, including "audits of relevant laboratories and research institutions operating in the area of the initial human cases identified in December 2019."
Tedros had told reporters the day before that the first probe produced progress but the team was not provided access to raw data concerning the start of the pandemic.
"We have designed the second phase of the study and we are asking China to be transparent, open and cooperate on the information raw data that we asked for in the early days of the pandemic," he said.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian dismissed Tedros' claim to reporters, saying China did show data to the scientists while repeating China's call for origin studies to be conducted outside of its borders.
"We need to search for possible early cases globally and further understand the role of cold chains and frozen foods in the transmission of the virus," he said, repeating a claim by China that the virus came to Wuhan through frozen food and that Tedros was politicizing something which should be driven by science.
Zeng on Thursday also called for a global study, saying any further investigations should be based on the foundation of the first probe.
"[We] should promote a global study involving multiple countries and locations involving early case findings, molecular epidemiology and animal intermediate host traceability," he said.
China shifts focus to Fort Detrick in rebuff to WHO proposal
China said Monday it disagrees with a World Health Organization proposal from WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for a new audit of Chinese laboratories. File Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/EPA-EFE
July 19 (UPI) -- China rejected a proposal from the World Health Organization for a new audit of Chinese laboratories previously linked to the earliest outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.
Beijing also claimed the United States poses greater dangers.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday at a regular press briefing that WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' proposal made last week is "different from the position of many countries, including China."
In February, a team of WHO experts visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where a team of Chinese scientists were studying bat coronaviruses. The WHO team said after the trip that the source of the coronavirus "remains unidentified.
Zhao said Monday that any new WHO-led audits of Chinese labs should be decided "by member states."
"The WHO should fully communicate and negotiate with member states, accept their opinions, while at the same time making the process of drafting work plans open and transparent," Zhao said.
The spokesman also claimed that 54 member countries have "opposed the politicization of the COVID-19 origin issue.
Zhao, who promoted an unfounded theory last year that the U.S. military brought COVID-19 to China, tweeted after the briefing Monday that the WHO also should inspect Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md.
Last week, the Chinese spokesman had recommended investigations into the role of cold chains and the global frozen food trade, according to the Global Times.
Chinese state media reported Sunday an online petition is circulating in China, "demanding" an investigation into a lab at Fort Detrick. The petition asking for a probe of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases has collected half a million signatures, the Global Times said
"This [U.S.] lab has a notorious record on lab security. There have been scandals of anthrax bacterium from the lab being stolen, causing poisoning to many and even death," the Chinese petition claimed.
China's first COVID-19 cases were first reported in December 2019.
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