In Washington, there is enough evidence to indicate that the coronavirus COVID-19 began to spread around the world from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview with ABC News.
“There is impressive evidence that it all started there,” he said on the air of “This Week” on ABC. At the same time, Pompeo, although he sharply criticized the actions of China, refused to clarify whether he believes that the virus was intentionally released.
According to the Secretary of State, many experts believe that the virus has an artificial origin, but added that it is aware of the opinion of scientists who, on the basis of DNA analysis, speak about the natural origin of COVID-19.
Pompeo made his statement the day after a report was published in the Western media attributed to The Five Eyes intelligence coalition (FVEY - the English-speaking intelligence alliance that includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the United States. - RT ). The document said that the Chinese authorities allegedly hid and destroyed data on the epidemic.
Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky called the allegations of China's guilt in the spread of coronavirus politicized.
“China is not an accomplice of the coronavirus, it was the first to suffer from COVID-19. All statements about the laboratory nature of the infection are nothing more than speculation, ”the politician emphasized.
According to him, the publication in the Western press of the results of the investigation of The Five Eyes union, indicating that Beijing was silent about the coronavirus, “is part of a politicized anti-Chinese campaign unleashed in the West.”
Slutsky emphasized that Beijing is openly cooperating with the entire international community, providing not only COVID-19 data, but also providing real medical assistance to different countries.
Reconnaissance Plum
Recall, on May 2, the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph published material stating that China allegedly intentionally hid and destroyed evidence of the outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19 in the country. In their article, the journalists of the publication referred to a report of the so-called intelligence union The Five Eyes, which was at their disposal.
Based on the conclusions allegedly made by the intelligence community, the newspaper claims that the PRC authorities allegedly hushed up information about the virus, destroyed evidence of its artificial origin in laboratories, and refused to provide other countries with the samples of biomaterials needed to create the vaccine.
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Also, according to the drafters of the report, Beijing allegedly had evidence of the transmission of the new coronavirus from person to person in early December 2019, but denied this fact until January 20, 2020.
In addition, the Australian newspaper, in its account of the events with the spread of the disease, repeated the popular assertion that the new type of coronavirus COVID-19 is supposedly of artificial origin, and its source is the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
However, all the arguments of The Daily Telegraph about the “guilt” of China in spreading the coronavirus are nothing more than an “information drain”: the document, which was at the disposal of the journalists, was received by the publication through unofficial channels, it is not possible to verify its authenticity. The newspaper does not contain any links to the original document, nor even snapshots of its pages.
Commenting on the publication of the Australian media, Leonid Slutsky said that such "stuffing" is designed to distract the attention of the population from the inability of American health to cope with the spread of the disease.
“All statements about the laboratory origin of the virus are nothing more than speculation. All of Beijing’s accusations are aimed at removing responsibility for problems in the healthcare system of Western countries, in particular, in the USA. The search for an external enemy for a distracting maneuver is a very cynical and, unfortunately, traditional device for Washington and its satellites, ”said Slutsky.
The expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research, Vladimir Bruter, agrees with this assessment of the publication.
“The appearance of such“ dossiers ”in the Western media is partly connected with an attempt to remove responsibility for the unpreparedness of the US healthcare system for a pandemic, but the main reason is to identify the perpetrator and designate him as a source of potential threats to the West,” the expert emphasized.
Unproven reason
Unjustified accusations against China are spread not only by the English-language media, but also by the head of the White House. Trump has repeatedly stated that the PRC is responsible for the spread of the epidemic, and repeated this on April 30 during a conversation with reporters.
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In response to a question from a Fox News reporter, did Trump have any information that convinced him that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the pandemic, the president replied, “Yes, there is.” But he did not go into further explanations, however, he suggested that Beijing had information about the virus and at the same time hid data on the epidemic.
On the same day, April 30, a statement appeared on the website of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States and. about. Director Richard Grenell, in which he confirmed information that US intelligence agencies are investigating reports that the cause of the spread of coronavirus could be an incident in one of the institute’s laboratories in Wuhan.
At the same time, Grenell emphasized that US intelligence does not consider COVID-19 coronavirus man-made or obtained as a result of genetic manipulations.
Despite this, Fox News, in reporting on a report attributed to The Five Eyes, said its data was allegedly confirmed by U.S. intelligence officials.
In addition, referring to the words of a “senior intelligence official,” Fox News said that most of the 17 US intelligence agencies are inclined to believe that the virus is of laboratory origin. At the same time, a "high-ranking source" noted that some services are not ready to confirm this conclusion without direct and unconditional evidence, which so far is not at the disposal of the US
Such information is distributed through unofficial sources, because it is an unproven reason for political attacks on the PRC, said Vladimir Bruter.
“Western intelligence after a political order simply formed a factual base. In fact, they had no basis, evidence or material. Accusations can be justified only by an international investigation, which, in fact, was previously mentioned by Sergey Lavrov. The Russian Foreign Minister said that as soon as the epidemic ends, WHO should begin a detailed study to determine whether this virus is man-made or not, ”the political scientist concluded.