Conclusions about the laboratory or any other origin of the virus must be made in accordance with WHO procedures, said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the US
According to TASS, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the US, said in a post on Twitter that claims of a new coronavirus in China’s laboratory were no different from the unfounded claims made some 20 years ago that Iraq allegedly possessed weapons of mass destruction.
“The origin of COVID-19 is a scientific issue and should be collectively studied by scientists around the world, not politicised. Any conclusions should be made in accordance with WHO procedures and based on scientifically sound methods”, – the diplomat stressed.
According to him, “the campaign to politicise the study of the origin of the coronavirus and discredit China is no different from the lies about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction.”
Let’s recall that, on 5 February 2003, at a UN Security Council meeting, US Secretary of State Colin Powell demonstrated a test tube of white powder as evidence of WMD in Iraq. It allegedly contained samples of chemical weapons found in Iraq, which, in the opinion of the head of the State Department, was a justification for the need for a military operation against Baghdad. Russia did not consider the vial demonstrated by Powell to be evidence of WMD in Iraq. As a result, a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution allowing the use of military force against Iraq did not take place. Nevertheless, the US and the UK began a military operation in that country, but without authorisation from the international community. No chemical weapons have been found in Iraq.