U.S. intelligence agencies conclude China ‘obstructs investigation’ into origin of COVID-19

The president of the United States, Joe bidensaid on Friday that China withheld “critical information” on the origins of Covid-19, which paralyzed the world and killed nearly 4.5 million.

“There is critical information about the origins of this pandemic in the People’s Republic of China, however, from the start, Chinese government officials have worked to prevent international researchers and members of the global public health community from gaining access“Biden said in a statement.

“Nowadays, People’s Republic of China continues to reject calls for transparency and withholding of information, even though the number of victims of this pandemic continues to increase ”.

Meanwhile, US intelligence agencies continue Split on the origins of the coronavirus, but they believe Chinese leaders were not aware of the virus until the onset of the global pandemic, according to the results released Friday of a review ordered by President Biden.

According to an unclassified summary, Four members of the US intelligence community say with little confidence that the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human. A fifth intelligence agency believes with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a laboratory. Analysts don’t believe the virus was developed as a biological weapon.

China’s refusal to fully cooperate with US and international virus investigations it made it difficult to analyze its origin. The director of national intelligence said on Friday that China “He continues to obstruct global investigations, resist information sharing and blame other countries, including the United States.”

The cause of the coronavirus remains an urgent public health and safety problem around the world. In the United States, many conservatives have accused Chinese scientists of developing COVID-19 in the lab and letting it leak. The scientific consensus remains that the virus most likely migrated from animals in what is called zoonotic transmission.

China’s Foreign Ministry attacked the US investigation ahead of the report’s release. Fu Cong, director general of the foreign ministry, told a briefing for foreign journalists that “Using China as a scapegoat cannot cover the United States.”

“If you want to accuse China without merit, you had better be prepared to accept China’s counterattack.“, noted.

Biden in May ordered a 90-day review of what the White House called initial finding leading to “two probable scenarios”: A transmission animal-to-human or laboratory leak. The White House said at the time that two agencies in the 18-member intelligence community were leaning towards the hypothesis of a transmission in the wild and another agency leaning towards a laboratory leak.

On Friday, the office of the director of national intelligence did not identify which agencies supported either hypothesis. But he highlighted some of the same obstacles that the World Health Organization and scientists around the world face: the lack of clinical samples and data on the first cases of COVID-19. Beijing’s cooperation will most likely be needed to move forward, the bureau said.

To conduct the review, intelligence agencies consulted with allied nations and experts outside the government. An epidemiologist has joined the National Intelligence Council, a high-level think tank that consults with the head of the intelligence community.

(With information from AFP and AP)

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