China Blasts US Intel Report on COVID-19 Origins, Says It's 'Not Scientifically Credible'

Although a US intelligence report found that the COVID-19 had natural origins, and the disease was not developed as a bioweapon, US President Joe Biden nonetheless insisted that Beijing continues to "withhold" crucial information relating to the origin of the pandemic.

The Chinese embassy in Washington DC slammed a US intelligence report on the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, claiming that it does not have scientific credibility and incorrectly suggests that Beijing is hindering a global investigation into the origin of the deadly outbreak.

"Ignoring WHO-China virus origins tracing report, the one fabricated by US intelligence community is not scientifically credible", the embassy stated, cited by Global Times. "Its assertion of China is an excuse for its stigmatizing campaign."

The embassy also suggested that the intelligence report failed to "produce an exact answer the US wants". 

"Any Phase II origins study must be a comprehensive extension of Phase I and conducted in multiple places and countries", the embassy said. "The origin-tracing is a matter of science; it should and can only be left to scientists, not intelligence experts".

Beijing's response came shortly after the release of the report on Friday, with intelligence agencies claiming that COVID-19 "was not developed as a biological weapon", and suggesting that Chinese authorities had no foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) still noted that both natural exposure and a laboratory-related incident "are plausible" as the cause of the pandemic.

Wuhan Institute of Virology

CC BY-SA 4.0 / Ureem2805 / Wuhan Institute of Virology

Following the release of the report, US officials said that it would be impossible to properly investigate the origins of coronavirus without the transparent participation of Beijing, with US President Joe Biden asserting on Friday that "government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing" critical information about the origins of the pandemic. Similar assertions were voiced in the intelligence report.

"Beijing [...] continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States", the report said. "These actions reflect, in part, China's government's own uncertainty about where an investigation could lead as well as its frustration the international community is using the issue to exert political pressure on China."

Beijing stated that the US "has been shying away from tracing the origin in the United States and closing the door on any such possibility", apparently referring to theories that suggest the coronavirus leaked from the US Army's Fort Detrick base in Maryland, in 2019. The embassy noted that Washington should invite World Health Organization experts to investigate Fort Detrick.