China Still Withholding "Critical" Info On Covid Origins, Says Joe Biden

The Chinese embassy in Washington has slammed the US intelligence community's findings, defending its handling of the pandemic

US President Joe Biden has said China was withholding "critical information" on the origins of Covid-19 after the US intelligence community said it did not believe the virus was a bioweapon -- but remained split on whether it escaped from a lab. The United States, however, does not believe Chinese officials had foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak of the pandemic that has now claimed 4.5 million lives, according to the unclassified summary of an eagerly awaited intelligence report. "Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People's Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it," Mr Biden said in a statement Friday. "To this day, the PRC continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continues to rise."