MPS have demanded China come clean after a US official stunningly claimed the “most credible” origin of Covid-19 was a lab leak in Wuhan.
Senior Tory MPs Tom Tugendhat and Tobias Ellwood have called on the Government to probe the allegations made by Donald Trump’s security advisor Matthew Pottinger.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology is the most advanced lab of its kind in China
The Wuhan Institute of Virology is known to have been studying bat coronaviruses
China has long denied that the virus – which most scientists agree occurred naturally – may have got out from its highest security lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The allegations come almost exactly a year since the virus first emerged in Wuhan just a stone’s throw from the lab – infecting more than 85million people worldwide and killing almost 2million.
Mr Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told Trending In The News Online the allegations are “extremely serious”.
While Mr Ellwood, chair of the Defence Select Committee, said Britain needs to “demand answers” from the Communist Party.
The US are claimed to have a whistleblower former scientist from the Wuhan Institute who is working with intelligence services.
World Health Organisation (WHO) scientists are due to arrive in China this month to begin a formal probe into the coronavirus’s origin.
However, the eight-page mission statement for the WHO study makes no reference of the investigating the possibility the virus emerged from a lab.
Questions have loomed over the Wuhan Institute since the start of the pandemic, and scientists there have repeatedly denied any allegations of a leak.
The lab was being used to create hybrid coronaviruses for research purposes, but there is no suggestion Covid-19 is manmade.
China has today denied the allegation, and instead blamed “global outbreaks” – shifting away the focus from Wuhan.
“China’s continued silencing of any local voices who dare to speak out and the ongoing removal of all online commentary suggest the authorities have something to hide,” Mr Ellwood told Trending In The News Online.
“Britain should join Australia in formally demanding answers for until there is clarity.”
Mr Tugendhat told Trending In The News Online: “How China has dealt with the pandemic internationally is extremely concerning, they have been very slow at sharing information – whether about the outbreak or its origins.
“They locked up those who were whistleblowing, and now it seems there is a danger they covered up a leak.”
US national security advisor Matt Pottinger made the revelations about the possible lab leak
Trump aide Pottinger told a group of international politicians that leaders in China are “admitting” there is a chance the theory suggesting Covid-19 started in a “wet market” is false.
He told them intelligence points to the likelihood of the virus leaking from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, reported The Mail on Sunday.
“There is a growing body of evidence that the lab is likely the most credible source of the virus,” Pottinger said.
He described the incident as a possible: “Leak or accident.”
“Even establishment figures in Beijing have openly dismissed the wet market story,” he added.
Wuhan was ground zero for the virus which has killed millions
Mr Tugendhat told Trending In The News Online: “This is extremely serious, Matt Pottinger is one of the world’s experts on China – he not only knows the country but he knows the intelligence exceptionally well.
“He will be able to evaluate the situation much better than almost anyone. And I think his comments are extremely important.
“This is exactly the sort of thing the British government should be looking at.”
He added: “This is a question about China’s ability to act responsibly in a globalised world.
“If China can’t be honest about an accidental breach of lab security that has put billions at risk and millions in hospital, it makes it very difficult to be able to trust China in many other areas.”
Mr Ellwood told Trending In The News Online: “Until there is a thorough, transparent, internationally investigation into the pandemic’ origins the world will never know for sure how this outbreak started, where was ground zero and who was patient zero.”
China first reported the new virus on December, 31, 2019
China has today hit back at claims the virus may have leaked from the Wuhan lab, and instead Foreign Minister Wang Yi blamed “separate outbreaks in multiple places in the world”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying’s also went on the attack when quizzed about the claims from Pottinger.
She instead called on WHO to “investigate the virus in the US” and linked it to a previous flu outbreak, and Fort Detrick military lab in Maryland.
Hua then cited US disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci and said “almost all the scientists and experts in the world” deny claims the virus came from the Wuhan lab.
The tit-for-tat response came as China has been often accused of taking a more aggressive diplomatic stance amid the pandemic, being branded as carrying out “wolf warrior diplomacy”.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology categorically denies there was a leak
Scientists are satisfied that Covid-19 is believed to have originated naturally – crossing from bats, to another animal, and then to humans.
Most fingers still point to Chinese wet markets as a possible breeding ground for such viruses.
However, it has been suggested a scientist or lab worker may have accidentally allowed the virus to escape, such as either being infected themselves or improperly disposing of waste.
No concrete evidence of such a claim has been presented as investigations continue.
Pictures previously revealed by Trending In The News Online showed shoddy conditions inside the lab – despite it being the first in China to be accredited with the highest possible biosafety level.
Researchers at the lab also discovered the new infection is 96 per cent similar to the virus they had discovered in bats held in the lab.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has defended his nation’s handling of the pandemic
Chinese state media has since blamed Britain over the new Covid variant, B117, which has led to the UK being pushed to the brink of a new lockdown.
Beijing has become increasingly bullish over allegations it bungled its coronavirus response, failed to share information, and actively attempted to cover up the outbreak.
Questionable studies emerging in China have tried to bat away blame, claiming the coronavirus may have originated in India, Bangladesh or even Italy.
Damning leaked documents unveiled this week showed that China appears to have lied about the virus to “protect” its image.
China now claims to have mostly returned to normal since the pandemic, with scenes of packed nightclubs, theme parks and sports games now common again.
Pictures showed on New Year’s Eve that even in Wuhan life appears to be almost like it was before the pandemic.
Much of the world however continues to suffer, with Britain becoming a new focus point amid the emerging new mutant virus.
More than 2.6million people have been infected in the UK, with 75,023 deaths, while China has only admitted to 87,150 cases and 4,634 deaths.
