After recent claims that Coronavirus samples from "unauthorized labs" were ordered to be destroyed to "prevent the risk to laboratory biological safety and prevent secondary disasters caused by unidentified pathogens," Chinese ambassador to Canada said that the China government would be open to some sort of review of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cong Peiwu, the ambassador who earlier claimed that China is being victimized by a campaign of disinformation about its role in the spread of the pandemic, and mentioned that the review would need to be "inclusive" and be run by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is criticized by U.S. President Donald Trump for being China-centric.
China to support the review
During an interview with the West Block's Mercedes Stephenson, Cong Peiwu said China will support a review committee to be established by WHO but it should be taking place in an "open and transparent manner and in proper time."
In addition, he also said, "We believe other countries should focus on the fight against COVID-19. However, I think for these kinds of reviews, it should be inclusive in nature. It should address the global response to COVID-19 and for us, we have taken the most strict and comprehensive measures in the fight against the disease and we are making great progress on that."
During the interview, he also attacked the U.S. over the way Trump Administration took care of the pandemic in the country which has reported over 87,000 deaths and more than 1,446,000 COVID-19 cases as of now.
He said that the U.S. has lost the "precious time" they had got from China because the Chinese government had issued an early warning to them from the very beginning. He also claimed that:
"Starting from January 3, we had been updating the United States and WHO and other countries in a regular way but after that, the U.S. issued a travel warning to Wuhan but after that, I don't think it has done anything very effectively to control the virus."
The origin of the virus
When the Cong was asked about the virus origin theory from Wuhan Institute of Virology and its accidental escape from the lab, he said, "All the available evidence now suggests the virus itself is not man-made, it comes from nature. And for us, we believe we should let the scientists answer the question rather than to hear from some politicians."
It should be mentioned that China has threatened retaliation against countries like Australia which have called for an inquiry into the origins of the Coronavirus pandemic. China faced numerous accusations for silencing doctors and researchers who tried to raise alarm to let people aware of the new outbreak at an early stage.
Earlier, reports also claimed that Chinese data provided to the World Health Organization was "intentionally incomplete" and the outbreak actually started months before China formally reported it to the world body.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, said that the world will have questions "particularly" for China about how the global pandemic began and how the response unfolded. It should be mentioned that Canada planned for an inquiry into whether China covered up the early indications of the virus outbreak. But when asked about why the government had not called for a formal inquiry, Trudeau said he has a responsibility to protect Canadians and ensure they have the equipment needed to fight the virus.
Later an investigation by Global News revealed that most of the imported PPE like face masks are currently coming from China. The report also claimed that United Front group tied to the Chinese government to corner the global market on the medical gear back in January 2020. However, Cong denied any knowledge of such efforts or any ties between the operatives and the Chinese regime.
