"Political And False": China Slams US Over Covid Origin Report
NDTV
The so-called lab-leak theory says the COVID-19 virus was spread from a research facility in Wuhan, the central city where the contagion was first reported.
Beijing lashed out against a US intelligence review into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic on Sunday, calling it "political and false" while urging Washington to "stop attacking" China.
The Chinese foreign ministry's retort came days after the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a fuller version of its findings from a 90-day review ordered by President Joe Biden.
The paper said that, without new information, intelligence agencies would not be able to offer a better judgement on whether the virus emerged via animal-to-human transmission or a lab leak.
It added that China's cooperation would probably be needed to reach a conclusive assessment on origins, although stressing that Beijing continued to "hinder the global investigation".
