The US envoy to China has called on the country to be “more honest” about the origins of the Covid-19 virus.
His comments came a day after US media reported that a federal agency had found that the pandemic may have originated from a leak at a laboratory in Wuhan.
China’s foreign ministry hit back saying the origin of the global outbreak was “about science and should not be politicized”.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have been strained since the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon this month.
Ambassador Nicholas Burns said at a US Chamber of Commerce event on Monday that China “needs to be more honest about what happened in Wuhan three years ago with the origin of the Covid-19 crisis”.
US media reported on Sunday that a classified US Department of Energy report concluded with “low confidence” that the virus was accidentally leaked from a laboratory.
The Energy Department previously said it had not determined how the virus started.
Other US agencies have drawn different conclusions with varying degrees of confidence in their findings. The FBI concluded in 2021 with “moderate confidence” that the virus leaked from a lab.
Other studies show it jumped from animals to humans at the Huanan Seafood and Wildlife Market in Wuhan.
An unclassified report released by a top US intelligence official in October 2021 said four US intelligence agencies estimated with “low confidence” that it originated from an infected animal or a related virus. has happened
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that no way has yet been found.
“There is no definitive conclusion and no consensus within the US government about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he told reporters when asked about the Energy Department’s reported determination.
A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry again rejected the lab leak theory on Monday.
Mao Ning called on US investigators to “stop defaming China and stop the politics of tracing origins”.
After it was reported that the US Department of Energy had settled on the lab leak theory, Republican Senator Tom Cotton tweeted that “proving it right doesn’t matter”.
“What is important is to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable so that this does not happen again.”
Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton told CNN he was “not at all surprised” by the Energy Department’s reported conclusion.
“The Chinese have mishandled Covid at every step, [and] are trying to sweep it under the carpet,” he said.
