MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The United States must agree to an international investigation into the origin of the coronavirus infection and answer questions about its biological experiments that Washington conceals, Chinese Ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui said at a press conference, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China.
"If the US indeed aspires for truth and transparency, they must agree to an international investigation on the coronavirus, identify the source of the epidemic in the US and the reasons for its incompetent response. And also, [Washington] has to answer the existing questions about biological experiments in the US and other countries, where the Americans also have a number of laboratories. [Such laboratories] also exist in those countries [located] near our countries," he said.
The envoy also noted that Washington scrupulously studied the situation in other countries but hid the situation in its own. At the same time, according to the diplomat, the Americans display a non-scientific approach to researching the coronavirus’ origins. "This is a job for scientists, while the Americans posed this question and this task to their intelligence services - for the CIA to determine the origin of the coronavirus," he noted.
The envoy emphasized that any probe must be based on science and take place in many countries, not only in China.
He pointed out that the US has ramped up pressure on the World Health Organization and its Director General lately.
"They have started infiltrating the quote-unquote independent, transparent investigations, seeking to accuse China of non-transparency and unwillingness to cooperate," he continued.
Zhang Hanhui noted that Washington makes baseless statements in this regard and does not take real facts into account.
"They try to doubt the statements of scientists, contrasting them against conspiracy theories, therefore politicizing the matters of science. China has been adhering to principles of openness, transparency and cooperation regarding the investigation of the coronavirus’ origins from the start," the diplomat added.