US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said “enormous evidence” showed the new
coronavirus
originated in a lab in China, further fuelling tensions with Beijing over its handling of the outbreak.
Scientists believe the virus jumped from animals to humans, after emerging in China, possibly from a
market in Wuhan selling exotic animals
for meat.
Trump, without giving details, said Thursday he had seen evidence the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source, appearing to echo speculation fuelled by US right-wing radio commentators about a secret lab.
China denies the claims and even the
US Director of National Intelligence office has said analysts are still examining the exact origin
of the outbreak.
But Pompeo went further than Trump, citing “significant” and “enormous” evidence that the virus originated in a Wuhan lab.
“I think the whole world can see now, remember, China has a history of infecting the world and running substandard laboratories.”
Pompeo said early Chinese efforts to play down the coronavirus amounted to “a classic Communist disinformation effort. That created enormous risk.”
“President Trump is very clear: we’ll hold those responsible accountable.”
www.scmp.com
