The FBI director accused China of undermining investigations into the origin of COVID-19

The director of the FBIChristopher Wray on Tuesday accused China of undermining the investigation of the United States and other countries in the international community on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I will only observe that the Chinese government, it seems to me, did everything possible to try to thwart and obscure the work here. The work we do, the work our U.S. government and our close foreign partners do. And that’s unfortunate for everyone,” he said.

Similarly, Wray reiterated the agency’s position regarding the assumption that it was “most likely a possible lab incident” in Wuhan (China) the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The FBI has been assessing for some time that the origins of the pandemic are likely a lab incident,” the FBI chief noted, assuring that investigations are ongoing, while many details related to the investigation remain classified.

These statements by the FBI director came two days after the Department of Energy (DOE) released a report in which it determined with “little confidence” that a leak from a laboratory was responsible from the start of the pandemic.

However, the White House avoided confirming the Biden administration’s position on the DOE report, after Beijing criticized it for politicizing the virus.

The United States Ambassador to China, Nicolas Burnesaid Monday that Washington should pressure Beijing to be more honest on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking via video link at a US Chamber of Commerce event, Burns said Washington must push China to play a more active role in the World Health Organization (WHO) if it wants to strengthen the United Nations health agency.

“And (of course) being more honest about what happened three years ago in Wuhan causing the COVID-19 crisis.“said Burns, referring to the city in central China where the first human cases were reported in December 2019.

National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden, JakeSullivansaid on Sunday that there was a “variety of views in the intelligence communityon the origins of the pandemic.

“A lot of them said they just didn’t have enough information,” Sullivan said. CNN. Four other U.S. agencies, as well as a national intelligence panel, still judge COVID-19 to be likely the result of natural transmission, while two are undecided, the report said. the wall street journal.

(With information from Europa Press)

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