Chinese Health Officials Defend COVID-19 Response, Accuse WHO of Disrespect

(MENAFN) Chinese health officials have defended their search for the origins of the COVID-19 virus and lashed out at the World Health Organization (WHO) after its leader said Beijing should have shared genetic information earlier. The director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shen Hongbing, accused the WHO of "attempting to smear China" and said it should avoid helping others "politicize COVID-19." The WHO's comments were "offensive and disrespectful," he added.

The origins of COVID-19 are still debated and are the focus of a bitter political dispute. Many scientists believe it jumped from animals to humans at a market in Wuhan, but the city is also home to laboratories, including China's top facility for collecting viruses. This has led to suggestions that COVID-19 might have leaked from one of these labs.

The ruling Communist Party has tried to deflect criticism of its handling of the outbreak by spreading uncertainty about its origins. Officials have repeated anti-U.S. conspiracy theories that the virus was created by Washington and smuggled into China. The government also says the virus might have entered China on mail or food shipments, although scientists abroad see no evidence to support this.

Chinese officials suppressed information about the Wuhan outbreak in 2019 and punished a doctor who warned others about the new disease. The ruling party reversed course in early 2020 and shut down access to major cities and most international travel to contain the disease.

The WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on March 17 that newly disclosed genetic material gathered in Wuhan in central China, where the first cases were detected in late 2019, "should have been shared three years ago." This statement has angered Chinese health officials who insist that they have always actively shared research results with scientists from around the world.

The comments from the WHO have added to the tension between China and the global health body, which has been accused of being too lenient on China in the past. The WHO has faced criticism for its handling of the pandemic, with some accusing it of being slow to respond and overly reliant on information from China.

The ongoing dispute highlights the challenges in identifying the origin of the virus and the need for greater international cooperation in tackling the pandemic. The WHO has called for a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, but this has been met with resistance from some countries, including China. The situation remains tense, and it is unclear how the parties involved will resolve their differences.

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