China is blaming the United States for the origin of COVID-19, accusing Washington of “evading responsibility” for the virus amid multiple statements by President Donald Trump that it was leaked from a lab in Wuhan.
In a multipage paper, the Communist regime said the infectious disease was present in the U.S. earlier than what was officially determined.
“The US should cease from shifting blame and evading responsibility, stop finding external excuses for its internal malaise, and genuinely reflect on and overhaul its public health policies,” the paper states. “The US cannot continue to turn a deaf ear to the numerous questions over its conduct.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.
Security personnel keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during the visit by the WHO team tasked with investigating the origins of COVID-19, in Wuhan, China, Feb. 3, 2021. (Reuters/Thomas Peter)
The Trump administration’s CIA reported earlier in 2025 that a lab leak was the likely origin of the COVID-19 virus, which had been passed off by media outlets and scientists as a likely conspiracy theory during the early days of the pandemic.
However, China said in its paper that a past joint study conducted with the World Health Organization (WHO) found that COVID-19 was most likely transmitted from bats to humans via another animal.
The report also accused the U.S. of not doing more to combat the virus.
The view Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, Feb. 9, 2021. (Getty Images)
“The slow and ineffective US response during the early stages of the outbreak set an appalling example to the international community and made the US performance in handling the pandemic the worst of all countries,” Chinese officials wrote. “Instead of facing this issue squarely and reflecting on its shortcomings, the US government has tried to shift the blame and divert people’s attention by shamelessly politicizing SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing.”
“The US cannot continue to turn a deaf ear to the numerous questions over its conduct,” the report said.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
