US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said Monday that Beijing should be more outspoken about the origin of covid-19 if it is to work with its government.
“China should be more honest about what happened three years ago in Wuhan with the origin of the” covid-19 crisis, the diplomat said during a virtual event of the American Chamber of Commerce , as reported by the CNN channel.
The ambassador, in office for just under a year, added that both the Chinese balloon that the United States has called a “spy” and the position of Xi Jinping’s government on the war in Ukraine are the questions. the most important. important for the United States compared to the Asian country.
Burns’ comments come a day after the US Department of Energy joined other federal agencies, including the FBI, in concluding that Covid-19 “most likely” came from a Chinese lab, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The newspaper noted that four other US departments continue to believe the coronavirus outbreak was likely the result of natural transmission, while two others remain undecided.
The Department of Energy’s conclusion is the result of reading new intelligence data.
This department has 17 national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research, according to the New York newspaper.
US President Joe Biden asked the intelligence community at the start of his term in May 2021 to investigate the origins of the pandemic.