US and China Clash Over COVID-19 Origins as White House Claim Is Refuted

White House: "COVID-19 Leaked from Wuhan Institute in China"
Chinese National Health Commission: "Groundless Fabrication"

The Chinese authorities have refuted the U.S. White House's designation of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China as the origin of the COVID-19 virus through its official website. Instead, they argued that the origin of the virus should be traced within the United States.

The White House website introducing the laboratory leak theory of the COVID-19 virus. Photo by White House website capture

On April 23, the National Health Commission of China responded on its website, stating, "The White House post, like previous U.S. reports about the laboratory leak theory in Wuhan, is scientifically unfounded and the evidence has been fabricated."

The commission added, "The United States has repeatedly slandered and defamed China over the origin of COVID-19 and has shown a vicious tendency to politicize scientific issues. The scientific community is already mocking these efforts, and the U.S. conspiracy to use this issue to contain China will never succeed."

They further claimed, "There is now an increasing amount of clues and evidence suggesting that COVID-19 may have first appeared in the United States," and insisted, "Future efforts to trace the origin of COVID-19 should be carried out within the United States." However, they did not provide specific evidence to support this claim.

The commission urged the United States to "immediately cease its slanderous attacks against China, face its own domestic issues, and provide a serious and responsible explanation to people around the world and the international community."

Previously, on April 18, the White House posted an article titled "Laboratory Leak" on its website, asserting that the COVID-19 virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Amid ongoing disagreements among U.S. intelligence agencies over the laboratory leak theory versus the natural origin theory regarding the origin of COVID-19, the White House, as the highest authority, has lent support to the laboratory leak theory.