Smearing China with lies about the coronavirus originating from Wuhan is “unsurprising” from some US politicians, the Chinese FM hit back on Tuesday at a routine media briefing after the US State Department described NBC entering the Wuhan Virology Institute as “regurgitated CPC propaganda that didn’t press for facts.”
“Some US politicians always define the ‘truth’ from their own standards,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, “which is why I am not surprised about their statements regarding the NBC report.”
NBC News, the first foreign media outlet to be granted access to the Wuhan Virology Institute since the outbreak began, interviewed several senior scientists at the lab on Friday.
US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus tweeted later on Monday, describing the NBC as having “regurgitated? CPC propaganda that didn’t press for facts,” and went further to comment that the CPC “preferred saving face over saving lives.”
Chinese scholars have made comprehensive responses to the public on several occasions regarding the operation status and management of the Wuhan Virology Institute. There is no proof to back up the US’ claims that the coronavirus was either manufactured at or accidentally leaked from the lab, and the fact itself refutes the conspiracy theory, Zhao noted.
“Speaking of facts, Beijing would like Washington to grant access for media outlets to visit the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick,” Zhao said, “the US should introduce to the international community the 200 overseas biology labs, and invite WHO experts to carry out investigations about possible links to the COVID-19 virus.”
The Chinese government has done its utmost to react to the epidemic since the beginning of the outbreak, which stands the test of time and history. It poses a sharp contrast to the Trump administration, which “prioritizes politics over people’s lives”.
With the confirmed cases exceeding 5 million and death toll over160,000 in the US, the US government should focus on epidemic containment, instead of relentlessly targeting China with false rumors, Zhao said.
Tourists visit Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, July 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)
