Top US diplomat criticises Beijing over Covid-19 origins
He says China's failure to share data, give health experts access early on made situation worse
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says it is important to "get to the bottom" of the origin of the deadly coronavirus outbreak that has plagued most parts of the world for more than a year.
WASHINGTON • China's failure to provide access to global health experts made the coronavirus pandemic worse than it had to be, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, stressing that it was important to "get to the bottom" of the origin of the deadly disease that has plagued most parts of the world for more than a year.
The top US diplomat's sharp words underscored criticism from other members of the Biden administration over Beijing's lack of transparency in the crucial early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
China did not give access to international experts or share information in real time to provide true transparency, Mr Blinken said in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.
"I think China knows that in the early stages of Covid, it didn't do what it needed to do," he said.
As a result, the virus "got out of hand faster and with, I think, much more egregious results than it might otherwise".
Mr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said in late March that data was withheld from its investigators who travelled to China to research the origins of the pandemic.
A WHO report, written jointly with Chinese scientists, released at the time said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and that a laboratory leak was "extremely unlikely" as a cause.
Dr Tedros said the issue required further investigation.
The events highlight why there needs to be a stronger global health security system to ensure this does not happen again, Mr Blinken said.
Reforms must include a commitment to transparency, information sharing and access for experts "and China has to play a part in that", he added.
Mr Blinken also said it was important to reach a more conclusive accounting of how the pandemic began. "We need to do that precisely so we fully understand what happened, in order to have the best shot possible preventing it from happening again. That's why we need to get to the bottom of this."
When the WHO report was issued in March, the United States, European Union and other Western countries called for China to give "full access" to independent experts to all data about the original outbreak in late 2019.
REUTERS
