The White House of the United States has responded to claims posted on its official website that the COVID-19 virus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, stating that China has refuted this. It also suggested that the origin should be traced to possibly emerging first in the U.S.
The National Health Commission of China stated on the 23rd via its website that "the White House post is scientifically unfounded, like reports regarding the Wuhan lab leak of COVID-19 in the past, and the evidence is fabricated."
"The U.S. has repeatedly slandered and defamed China regarding the origins of COVID-19, displaying a heinous tendency to politicize scientific issues," it noted. "The scientific community has already ridiculed these assertions. The plot to use this to contain China will not go as intended."
It was further stated that the search for the virus's origin should rather be focused in the U.S. Authorities said, "An increasing number of clues and evidence point to the possibility that COVID-19 first appeared in the U.S.," adding, "Future tracing efforts for the origin of COVID-19 should be conducted within the United States."
It also demanded that the U.S. "immediately cease the slanderous attacks against China, confront its domestic issues, and provide the global community and international society with serious and responsible explanations."