Psaki abruptly switches topic after she's asked about Biden's lack of pressure on China

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday changed the subject abruptly after she was asked about US President Joe Biden’s lack of pressure on China to be transparent about the origins of COVID-19. During a daily press briefing, Fox News’ White House correspondent noted that it has been more than two weeks since Biden had a call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. On that call, the US President did not press the Chinese leader to help with the investigation of the COVID-19 origin as “you (Psaki) said that Xi just understands he’s supposed to be transparent,” the reporter said. 

“So in the two-plus weeks since, has he helped and been transparent,” the Fox News journalist asked. 

To this, Psaki responded saying, “I don’t believe that’s exactly what I said. I believe what I said is that we have pressed for this repeatedly, we will continue to and we’ll continue to do that at a range of levels. I don’t unfortunately have any updates on the participation or willingness of the Chinese to add and provide additional data.”

At this point, the White House Press Secretary turned to the Biden administration’s efforts to address smash-and-grab looting by large groups of people. “Can I provide one other update to you since you asked me about crime yesterday and had a little more information for you?” Psaki asked. When the reporter said that his question was about Xi Jinping, she said, “Oh, well, you asked me a question about crime yesterday, so I was going to give you a little a little extra information.”

Biden administration's 90-day review inconclusive 

Meanwhile, it is to mention that last month, even Biden had turned and walked away after listening to a question from The Post about pressing China to be transparent on the origins of the virus, NY Post reported. China has repeatedly refused to cooperate with an independent investigation led by the WHO. The Biden administration, on the other hand, had concluded a 90-day review of COVID-19 origins without reaching any definite conclusion regarding the claims about Coronavirus lab leak theory or if the pathogen escaped naturally. 

As per a report by CNN, officials in the US continue to believe that both the scenarios are likely but the Republicans remain discontent. The Republican party has accused the Biden administration of not carrying out the COVID-19 investigations thoroughly. The GOP also believes that Democrats broadly have downplayed China’s role in the pandemic. Some lawmakers have even utilised the heat and ambiguity surrounding the COVID-19 origin as an opening to argue that the US President is not doing enough on tackling China. 

(Image: AP)