China must be ‘more honest’ on Covid origins, U.S. ambassador says

China must be “more honest” about the origins of Covid-19, said Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, in remarks that were criticized by Beijing.

HONG KONG — China must be “more honest” about the origins of Covid-19, the U.S. ambassador to China said Monday, in remarks that were criticized by Beijing as politicizing the issue.

The comments by Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who was speaking by video link at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event, come as tensions between Washington and Beijing soar over a range of issues, including potential Chinese military support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

The U.S. Energy Department recently concluded with “low confidence” that the virus “likely” began with a laboratory leak in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where it emerged in late 2019. U.S. intelligence agencies are split in their assessments of the origins of the pandemic, with some concluding that it began with natural transmission from an infected animal while others are undecided.

It is among the issues set to be explored by a new House special committee on China, which is holding its first hearing Tuesday.

Burns made the remarks as part of a list of issues where he said “most Americans” would want the world’s two largest economies to work together, including climate change, food security and public health.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-more-honest-covid-origins-us-ambassador-beijing-criticism-rcna72611


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