Pandemic Blame game: China accuses USA for COVID-19 origin, backfires on lab leak claims

In a surprising twist, China which was long accused by the world for being the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is now pointing fingers towards the United States. Chinese authorities now claim that they were not the first to spread the virus, challenging the widely held belief about the pandemic’s origin. 

The incident took heights after the US government made latest claims that the virus likely leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. To its response, China accused the US government while calling out them of shamelessly politicizing the virus origins. Chinese authorities made the accusations by releasing a white paper and dismissing the lab leak theory by US President Donald Trump.  

Chinese officials stated that the US Government instead of facing their failure in response to COVID-19 and reflecting on its shortcomings have tried to shift the blame and divert people’s attention. They further added that the USA has been under the threat of the Virus, even before it was officially detected and they further accused the US of hampering the international issue.  

China affirmed that the claims of a lab leak are ‘extremely unlikely’ and they backed their claims with joint study by the WHO. The white paper further said that the US should not continue to ‘pretend to be deaf and dumb and should respond immediately to the concerns of the international community.  

Netizens react to Allegations made by China over US 

While the two nations fight over the origin of one of the deadliest viruses in humankind, netizens on social media are citing their concerns and opinions while backing up respective countries.  

A user named Henry Yeow stated that the revelation by the US is factual and is extremely damaging to China, “This revelation is factual. China was accused of being the creator of the virus by America, this act is extremely damaging to China as only a subhuman will create a virus to destroy mankind including their own citizens. Now China needs to come out and point at the real murderers. About time for affirmative actions as the usual Asian niceties don’t work with the US.” 

Another user in response to the incident tweeted on ‘X’ that he worked at the airport and often travelled to China and Asia and was one of the first to carry the sick, “I used to work at the airport. I and many of my coworkers were around planes flying internationally to China/Asia, and we were among the first to get sick. No tests were available, but we were told it was likely the flu. So, there's that.” 

While the situation escalates, it remains unclear from where the virus originated, however, since it's been 5 years, when COVID-19 was first discovered, it remains questionable that its origin still remains unknown. Many health experts argue that, if the virus’s original origin was not China, then how its origin has not been determined yet.