China shamelessly accuses rest of world of ‘shirking responsibility’ on coronavirus after being accused of mass cover-up
CHINA’S communist regime is claiming the rest of the world are “shirking responsibility” for the coronavirus pandemic amid fresh accusations of a mass cover-up.
Chinese officials made the comments after it was accused of blocking international attempts to find the truth about the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan.
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But in response to the scathing report in the Wall Street Journal, China’s National Health Commission sought to deflect criticism — by turning the tables on the rest of the world.
It comes as the respiratory disease has killed nearly 300,000 people globally with 4.4million people diagnosed with it.
An official said: "The virus should not be linked to any country, region or people.
"Every country in the world should join forces and work together, rather than blaming each other and shirking responsibility."
According to the report, a collaborative bid to discover where the virus originated stalled after China suddenly snubbed the project.
Officials even allegedly have been withholding findings from international experts.
This included a map detailing the possible spread of the virus in a Hunuan seafood market.
INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS BLOCKED
A US-based group claiming to have experienced China’s uncooperative reaction to the outbreak first-hand is EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organisation studying coronaviruses in bats.
It offered to help investigate only to be denied by Chinese officials.
EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak told The Journal: "It’s really so sensitive now because of the conspiracy theories being put forward in China and the USA.
"In any case, I suspect it’s simply too late."
Daszak said evidence about the virus’s origin in the market seems to have been either compromised or destroyed.
In the only way forward, he believes, would be to expand testing beyond the market, focusing more on wild animals and the humans they come in contact with.
Every country in the world should join forces and work together, rather than blaming each other and shirking responsibility
Chinese official
Daszak said: "It won’t be fast and it won’t be easy but we will get there, and it will need cooperation between China and other countries including the US."
Donald Trump has refused to deny claims the virus may have accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which sits next door to the food market.
But he says there is enough evidence China misled the rest of the world about the nature of the outbreak while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Beijing of withholding samples of Covid-19 from other countries.
Meanwhile the CIA believes China threatened the WHO into delaying warnings about Covid-19 while it hoarded medical supplies, a new report says.
According to the bombshell document, Beijing told the World Health Organisation they would stop working with them if the agency declared a global health emergency.
The alleged pressure in January enabled China to stockpile crucial medical equipment while the coronavirus - which started in Wuhan late last year - spread around the world, reports .
'ASSAULT ON INTERNATIONAL TRANSPARENCY'
The latest report comes after similar leaked spy documents have alleged Beijing attempted to cover up the crisis.
A German intelligence document claimed Chinese President Xi Jinping personally pressured the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus into downplaying the risk of the virus.
The spy document said: "On January 21, China's leader Xi Jinping asked WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to hold back information about a human-to-human transmission and to delay a pandemic warning.
"The BND estimates that China's information policy lost four to six weeks to fight the virus worldwide."
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In response, the WHO branded the claims “unfounded and untrue.”
A third dossier, from the Five Eyes intelligence agencies of the , the , and stated that 's secrecy surrounding the virus led to an "assault on international transparency".
A fourth intelligence report by the Department of Homeland Security, much like the CIA dossier, claims China deliberately downplayed the deadliness of the new virus while slyly increasing imports and decreasing exports of vital medical gear, according to the Associated Press.
But China then tried to cover up its actions by "denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data," the analysis adds.
The beleaguered health agency also released a statement via Newsweek responding to the reported CIA document.
It read: "We don't comment on specific discussions with member states but we can say that at all times during the pandemic WHO has acted in accordance with its mandate as an evidence-based technical organization focusing on protecting all people, everywhere.”
"WHO bases its recommendations on science, public health best practices, evidence, data, and the advice of independent experts."
