Chinanews.com, Beijing, March 9 (Reporter Zhang Weiran) Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on the 9th that he would politicize the issue of the source of the new crown virus and advocate a "presumption of guilt" investigation into specific countries. This behavior is not conducive to international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic.
According to reports, some scientists recently issued an open letter calling for an "independent investigation" of the traceability of the new crown virus and questioning the independence of the current WHO international expert group.
A reporter asked the spokesperson whether China thinks it is necessary to conduct more "independent investigations" in China?
"First of all, I want to correct you. What China and the WHO are conducting is a joint traceability study, not a survey. The so-called'open letters published by scientists' you mentioned are completely out of ulterior motives and are related to the joint research of the WHO and China. Discrimination." Zhao Lijian said.
Zhao Lijian introduced the joint research conducted by China and the WHO.
He said that the list of WHO's international expert groups was completely proposed by the WHO and came from more than 10 countries and international organizations such as the WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It is not only scientifically independent, but also widely representative. .
He introduced that the Chinese government has done a lot of administrative, technical, logistical support and support for this joint traceability.
In order to support this joint traceability study, China organized top experts in related fields in China to participate in traceability work at the request of the WHO and the international expert group, and mobilized a large number of technical personnel to provide necessary support for the joint expert group to collect data and information.
Experts' on-site visit requirements are proposed by the expert team, the interviewees and interview content are independently determined by the expert team on site, and the report is drafted by the expert team.
Zhao Lijian emphasized that this traceability cooperation is a scientific task carried out by the Chinese-foreign joint expert team based on scientific research and factual evidence. Experts from both sides have conducted full and frank exchanges, and their conclusions reflect the consensus of the experts on both sides. They are objective, scientific and authoritative. .
"The so-called scientists you mentioned ignore scientific facts, politicize the issue of traceability, arbitrarily misinterpret the scientific conclusions of the expert group, and advocate conducting'presumption of guilt' investigations into specific countries. This behavior is not conducive to international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic. . The so-called "scientist's open letter", whether to uphold a scientific and professional attitude to provide advice and suggestions for traceability research, or to engage in "presumption of guilt" and politicization, I am afraid this is clear." Zhao Lijian told reporters.
He said that there are more and more reports of epidemics and viruses appearing in more places in the second half of 2019, and similar inspections in other countries and regions have become more urgent and necessary. We hope that all parties concerned will adopt a scientific and cooperative attitude like China and carry out traceability cooperation with the WHO. China will continue to carry out traceability cooperation with the WHO and the international community in an open and transparent attitude, so as to make China's contribution to mankind's early victory over the epidemic and better response to future public health emergencies. (Finish)