China slams 'declassified assessment on COVID-19 origins' released by US

BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- China on Sunday slammed the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for releasing a declassified version of its report on the novel coronavirus origins on Friday, and said that the report has no scientific basis or credibility.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks when asked to comment on the release of the report. He stressed that when the U.S. intelligence agency released the so-called unclassified summary of assessment on COVID-19 origins in August, China made clear its firm opposition.

"A lie repeated a thousand times is still a lie. No matter how many times the report is published or how many versions it comes in, it will not change the fact that this report is, in essence, a political and false one, with no scientific basis or credibility," said Wang.

He pointed out that the study of the origin of the novel coronavirus is a serious and complex scientific issue, which should and can only be carried out by global scientists in cooperation. The use of intelligence agencies to trace the origins is in itself an iron-clad proof of politicization.

"The U.S. intelligence services have a deplorable track record, with their falsification and deception tactics known by the world," Wang added.

Recently, more than 80 countries have stated their explicit position of opposing politicization of origins-tracing and upholding the joint China-WHO study report through various means, including writing to the WHO Director-General, releasing statements and sending notes, said Wang. He added that over 300 political parties, civil organizations and think tanks from more than 100 countries and regions had submitted a joint statement opposing politicization of origins-tracing to the WHO Secretariat.

"These are voices of justice in the international community," said the spokesperson.

However, the U.S. remains obsessed with political manipulation and intelligence-led origins tracing in disregard of international justice. This will only further undermine the general atmosphere for science-based global cooperation in origins-tracing, hamper international cooperation in combating COVID-19, and cost more lives, stated Wang.

At present, the U.S. should stop all scapegoating and the blame-shifting moves and focus instead on domestic efforts and global cooperation in fighting COVID-19. It should stop political manipulation and create enabling conditions for scientists all over the world to conduct origins-tracing cooperation, Wang said.

He added that the United States should stop attacking and smearing China, respond to the international community's legitimate concerns, receive WHO experts' visits, and open up its biological labs at Fort Detrick and biological experiment bases.