BEIJING:
On Tuesday, Beijing firmly defended its stance on sharing Covid-19 information, following calls from the World Health Organization (WHO) for more data and access to help trace the virus’s origins. In response to the WHO’s plea, China reiterated its position that it had been fully transparent from the start.
The pandemic, which first emerged in Wuhan in December 2020, devastated global health systems, economies, and claimed millions of lives. The WHO, in a statement released Monday, urged China to provide more details, calling it both a “moral and scientific imperative” to further investigate the virus’s roots.
China, however, stressed its contributions to global research, asserting that it was the first to share epidemic data and the viral gene sequence with the WHO and the world. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning emphasized that China had “held nothing back” and had also shared its experiences in prevention and treatment.
Despite this, the WHO has repeatedly criticized China’s transparency throughout the pandemic. A joint investigation conducted by Chinese and WHO experts in early 2021 suggested the virus likely spread from bats to humans via an intermediary animal, possibly at a market. However, since then, WHO teams have been unable to return to China, and the agency has requested further data.
Mao responded by suggesting that the search for the virus’s origins should be viewed as a global effort, stating, “more and more clues” pointed to the idea that Covid-19’s origins could have a broader scope. She added that China was ready to continue collaborating on global research to prevent future pandemics.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus echoed similar concerns this month, warning that the world remains vulnerable to future pandemics but that lessons from Covid-19 had strengthened global defences. In December 2021, countries began drafting an agreement to improve pandemic preparedness, ensuring the world will be better equipped if another global health crisis emerges.
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