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Sunday, February 9, 2025

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China Rejects Lab Leak Theory and Accuses US of Hurting its Credibility

China has rejected the US theory that Covid-19 was leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, calling it a smear campaign against Beijing.

The comments came after FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News that the pandemic was “most likely” caused by a laboratory incident in China. However, some US intelligence agencies believe that the virus emerged naturally in the world.

The US Department of Energy had also reportedly determined that a leak from a Chinese lab was the most likely cause of the Covid-19 outbreak. The department’s findings are significant because it works with a network of national laboratories, including some that do advanced biological research.

Chinese officials have denied the claim and accused the US of trying to harm its own credibility. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that “The United States once again stirs up the laboratory leak theory, which will not discredit China, which will further lower its own credibility.”

At a press briefing, Mao reiterated a longstanding and unsubstantiated Chinese claim that the virus could have escaped from the US military research lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland. She urged the US to respect science and facts, cooperate with the World Health Organization, invite international experts to conduct traceability research in its country, and share research results with the international community.

Wray also accused the Chinese government of obstructing US efforts to investigate the origins of the pandemic. He stated that “The Chinese government… has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our US government and close foreign partners are doing.”

Determining the origins of the pandemic is considered crucial by the scientific community to better fight or even prevent the next one.

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