'COVID-19 origin's second probe should investigate Fort Detrick lab in US': China to WHO

After China rejected the WHO’s call for the second phase of the COVID-19 origin probe including a survey of labs to explore coronavirus leak theory, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on July 26 that “If labs are to be investigated, then the WHO experts should go to Fort Detrick.” Zhao’s remarks came in relation to the World Health Organization seeking more clarity regarding the origin of COVID-19 that was first discovered in China in 2019 including a possible leak from the Wuhan lab. However, China has reportedly contested furiously against the alleged coronavirus lab leak and now Zhao has said American labs should also be investigated. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement, “If labs are to be investigated, then the WHO experts should go to Fort Detrick. The US should act transparently & responsibly as soon as possible and invite WHO experts for an inquiry into the Fort Detrick lab. Only in this way can truth be revealed to the world.”

Earlier, on July 22 China rejected a World Health Organization (WHO) plan for the second phase of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, which also includes the hypothesis that the pathogen could have leaked from a Chinese laboratory. The United Nations (UN) health agency had proposed this month for the second phase of studies into the origin of COVID-19 in China which would have included surveys of laboratories and markets in the city of Wuhan, calling for transparency from authorities. 

"It is impossible for us to accept such an origin-tracing plan," Zeng Yixin, vice-minister of the National Health Commission (NHC) told reporters, “We will not accept such an origins-tracing plan as it, in some aspects, disregards common sense and defies science.” 

China calls on WHO to expand probe to other nations

WHO proposed the second phase of COVID-19 origin after in May, the US President Joe Biden had ordered aides to find answers to questions over the origin saying that the American intelligence agencies were pursuing the contested theories potentially including the possibility of a leak from Chinese laboratory. However, in a news conference, Zeng along with other Chinese experts have called on the UN health agency to expand the origin-tracing efforts beyond China onto other nations. 

"We believe a lab leak is extremely unlikely and it is not necessary to invest more energy and efforts in this regard," said Liang Wannian, the Chinese team leader on the WHO joint expert team. However, Liang also added that the coronavirus lab leak theory could not be entirely dismissed. He suggested that if the evidence warranted, other nations are free to look into the possibility of the virus being leaked from their labs. 

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said that he hoped for better cooperation and access to data from China regarding the lab leak hypothesis. He said, "I was a lab technician myself, I’m an immunologist, and I have worked in the lab, and lab accidents happen" while noting the "premature rush"  to rule out the theory that the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan.

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