China claims it'll 'continue to support' COVID origin probe, but not 'politicisation'

In a key development, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that Beijing will continue to support and participate in the international COVID origin probe. Additionally, spokesperson Zhao Lijian asserted China's firm opposition to any form of politicisation of the matter and urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) and competent authorities to hold on to the report jointly done by WHO and China.

"China will continue to support and participate in international coronavirus origins probe but opposed any form of politicization on this issue," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian while speaking on the formation of SAGO, as tweeted by Global Times. 

The statement came at a daily news briefing when Lijan was asked about the newly formulated experts team on the COVID origin probe in association with WHO. On October 13, the United Nations specialised agency for international public health, WHO, named the 26 proposed members of its Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), inclusive of scientists from China. 

"China has always maintained that tracing of virus origins is a serious and complex scientific issue and that research should be conducted by scientists in cooperation," Lijian was quoted by CGTN.

He added that the previous study conducted on the matter should be taken into consideration as well. 

SAGO is the 'last chance' in international COVID origin probe: WHO 

On October 13, the World Health Organization said that its newly formed advisory panel on dangerous infections could be the "last chance" to figure out the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and encouraged China to provide data from early cases. WHO unveiled 26 members of its Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens. Marion Koopmans, Thea Fischer, Hung Nguyen, and Chinese animal health expert Yang Yungui participated in the collaborative discussion in Wuhan.

In December 2019, the first human cases of COVID-19 were detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. China has continually denied that the virus escaped from one of its laboratories and has stated that no further inspections are required.

A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around Wuhan Lab and the city earlier this year, along with Chinese experts. The study concluded in a joint report in March that the virus was most likely transmitted from bats to humans via another animal.