China Calls Report of US Intelligence Community on COVID-19 Origin Unscientific
© AP Photo / Mark SchiefelbeinA visitor wearing a face mask takes a photo of a model of a coronavirus and boxes for COVID-19 vaccines at a display by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic largely under control, China's capital on Saturday kicked off one of the first large-scale public events since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, as tens of thousands of attendees were expected to visit displays from nearly 2,000 Chinese and foreign companies showcasing their products and services.
© AP Photo / Mark Schiefelbein
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BEIJING (Sputnik) - The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, Liu Pengyu, called the report on the origin of COVID-19 by the American intelligence service unscientific, South China Morning Post reported on Saturday.
The Chinese diplomat noted that the assessment of the origin of COVID-19 published by the US intelligence community is completely unscientific and will only undermine the science-based examination of the virus and hinder global efforts to find the source of the pandemic.
The embassy's spokesperson said that Washington refuses to address the concerns of the international community over the US military biological Fort Detrick laboratory and more than 200 foreign bases that handle biological experiments.
On Friday, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence published a report which elaborates on two possible origins of coronavirus, the natural and the laboratory-associated ones. The US intelligence community considers both options plausible, but does not believe that COVID-19 was developed as a biological weapon, the report said.
In March 2021, the World Health Organization issued a full report on COVID-19 origin, stating that the leak from laboratory is an unlikely origin of the virus.