China Slams CIA COVID Lab Leak Claim
China slams has dismissed the recent claim by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that COVID-19 is more likely to have originated from a Chinese laboratory,
describing it as “extremely unlikely.” The response comes after the CIA’s assessment on Saturday (January 25) suggested that a lab leak was the more probable cause of the pandemic, rather than natural animal transmission.
China’s rejection of lab leak theory
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Monday (January 28) strongly refuted the lab leak theory, asserting that it was “extremely unlikely” COVID-19 came from a laboratory. She emphasised that the conclusion was made by the China-WHO joint expert team, which conducted field visits to relevant laboratories in Wuhan.
Mao stated, “The conclusion that a laboratory leak is extremely unlikely was reached by the China-WHO joint expert team based on field visits to relevant laboratories in Wuhan. This has been widely recognized by the international community and the scientific community.”
China’s call for the US to stop politicising the issue
China also urged the United States to refrain from politicising the issue, calling for Washington to stop “smearing” and “shifting the blame to other countries.” Mao Ning urged the US to address the “legitimate concerns” of the international community.
“The U.S. should stop politicizing and instrumentalizing the issue of origin-tracing,” she added. “It should respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community as soon as possible.”
CIA’s assessment of the virus origins
The CIA’s statement, released on Saturday, suggested that the virus was more likely to have been leaked from a Chinese laboratory than transmitted by animals. However china slams, the agency clarified that it had “low confidence” in this conclusion.
A CIA spokesperson stated, “CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting.” Despite this, the spokesperson emphasised that both the research-related and natural origin scenarios “remain plausible.”