Beijing Denies CIA About Sources Of COVID-19 From Laboratory Leaks

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mao Ning (ANTARA)

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied allegations by the United States Intelligence Agency (CIA) that the origin of COVID-19 originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, and was not a natural event.

"The search for the origins of COVID-19 is a matter of science and any assessment of it must be made with science-based enthusiasm and by scientists. It is highly unlikely that the pandemic is caused by a laboratory leak," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a press conference in Beijing, Monday (27/1).

The American Intelligence Service, Saturday (25/1), announced that it believes the COVID-19 pandemic "more likely" originated from a laboratory leak than natural events.

But the intelligence agency warned that it had "low confidence" over that assessment meaning intelligence supporting it was less, less convincing, or contradictory.

"The joint WHO and China mission experts have made field visits to laboratories in Wuhan and in-depth communications with the researchers, stating that the source of COVID-19 is not from leakage. This conclusion has been widely recognized by the international community, including the scientific community," Mao Ning added.

Mao Ning asked the US to immediately stop politicizing and turn tracing the origins of COVID-19 into weapons and stop making other parties scapegoats.

"The US must respond as quickly as possible to concerns from the international community, which voluntarily shared its data with WHO on the alleged initial case in the US, clarify questions related to relevant US biology laboratories and provide a responsible explanation to the world," Mao Ning said.

Previously, a CIA spokesman in one statement delivered "original origins of COVID-19 related to laboratory research are more likely than natural origins based on available reports".

The CIA also said it would "continue to evaluate any credible new intelligence reporting or open source information that could change CIA judgment."

The decision to convey this was made after President Donald Trump appointed John Radcliffe as the new CIA Director on Thursday (23/1).

Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence during President Trump's first term, has long supported laboratory leak theory, citing COVID-19 most likely stems from a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Following the CIA announcement, three US government agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Energy, have publicly supported the theory that COVID-19 is most likely leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

Four other US intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council have stated that they believe the virus is likely due to natural events.