Chinese state media faced backlash for amplifying Foreign Ministry's call for seeking a Nobel Prize for Wuhan Institute of Virology even as it faces scrutiny as the potential origin of the pandemic.
Chinese media have been under attack for enthusiastically promoting the Foreign Minister's announcement of the Nobel Prize for Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) despite facing increasing scrutiny as the cause of the deadly COVID-19 epidemic.
According to the Global Times, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijiang said scientists working at the institute should be awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine, rather than being accused of being the first to discover the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus.(ads2)
This came after Shi Zhengli, known as the "Bat Lady" in China, angrily denied that his lab was the source of the virus in an interview with the New York Times last week.
"I don't know how the world got to this point, it's always polluting the innocent scientist," he wrote in a text message.
Commenting on Shi's response, Zhao said Chinese scientists in Wuhan were the first to discover the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus but it does not mean that Wuhan was the source of the coronavirus, nor can it be assumed that the virus was made by Chinese scientists.
"If it is suspected that the first high-level virus sequestration by the novel's coronavirus source, Professor Luc Antoine Montagnier, the first HIV-positive person, should be the cause of the global AIDS epidemic, not the Nobel Prize for medical treatment," the Global Times quoted a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs as saying.
Fox News quoted Jim Geraght of the National Review as saying: "I dismiss the fact that the Chinese government insists that the Wuhan Institute of Virology deserves to be celebrated is another indication that it intends to change anything after the epidemic."
HotAir writer Jazz Shaw said he initially thought the report was a "bad joke".(ads1)
"Further research into the original source of the virus has made it very clear that the original explanation was so flawed that even the NIH, WHO, and Dr. Fauci were forced to agree that the theory of evolution in laboratory should at least be studied. In addition, no one has been infected with the same virus. of SARS-CoV-2. China's protests over the issue appear to be continuing unabated, "he wrote.
China has been under pressure from many countries over requests for a new study on the origin of the deadly virus.
Earlier this month, Group Seven (G7) leaders called for a "timely, transparent, expert-led, and scientific-based investigation" on the origins of COVID-19, including, as recommended by experts', in China.
In a speech in Carbis Bay, G7 leaders said, "Strengthening transparency and accountability, including the renewal of our commitment to full performance, and to improved compliance, International Health Regulations 2005. This includes investigating, reporting and responding to emergencies of unknown origin. there has been a timely, transparent, expert-led, and scientific study conducted by WHO in phase 2 of COVID-19 Origins which includes, as recommended by the expert report, China. "
Following the conclusion of the G7 summit in the UK, US President Joe Biden on Sunday called on China to commit to international human rights obligations and to be transparent about the origins of COVID-19.
Speaking to reporters, Biden said: "I think China should start acting responsibly in accordance with international human rights policy and transparency. Non-discrimination is important in all aspects of the board."
The idea of a laboratory leak has recently become a public debate after several prominent scientists called for a full investigation into the origin of the virus.
The hypothesis that the virus was accidentally leaked from the board was largely ignored by scientists in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. China has repeatedly denied that the laboratory caused the disease.
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