Foreign Ministry in Beijing says figuring out COVID-19 origin should be left to scientists, « not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends. »
China lashed out again Wednesday at claims by President Donald Trump and his top diplomat that the U. S. has strong evidence suggesting the coronavirus slipped out of an infectious disease research facility in the city of Wuhan and then into the human population.
Mr. Trump said last week that he’d personally seen evidence that gave him a high degree of confidence the disease came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who previously said the virus’ origin was unclear, claimed over the weekend there was « enormous evidence » to show it had come from the lab.
On Wednesday, pressed by CBS News reporter Christina Ruffini about his inconsistent stance on the strength of the evidence, Pompeo again said there was no « certainty, » but insisted « there is significant evidence this came from the laboratory. Those statements can both be true. »
No such evidence has been shared with the public or, seemingly, America’s close international partners.
A U. S. intelligence official has told CBS News evidence does exist for that scenario but it’s still being examined, along with evidence that it stemmed from human contact with infected animals outside of the lab.
