Chinese state-run television attacked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday, telling viewers Pompeo’s comments suggesting the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab were “insane.”
“There’s enormous evidence that that’s where this began. We’ve said from the beginning that this was a virus that originated in Wuhan, China,” Pompeo said over the weekend. “We took a lot of grief for that from the outset, but I think the whole world can see now.”
China’s state broadcaster CCTV called the comments “insane and evasive,” according to Agence France-Presse.
“These flawed and unreasonable remarks by American politicians make it clear to more and more people that no ‘evidence’ exists,” CCTV said in a segment titled “Evil Pompeo is wantonly spewing poison and spreading lies.”
“The so-called ‘virus leaked from a Wuhan lab’ hype is a complete and utter lie,” it continued. “American politicians are rushing to shift the blame, cheat votes, and suppress China when their own domestic anti-epidemic efforts are a mess.”
President Trump has been sharply critical of China’s handling of the virus, and in recent weeks has directed American spy agencies to investigate how the coronavirus might have originated in the country. It was originally believed the virus began at a so-called wet market in Wuhan, but speculation has grown that it may have started at a lab called the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Pompeo said the U.S. government did not believe the virus was man-made.
“You know, I don’t have anything to say about that — I think there’s a lot to know,” Pompeo said. “But I can say this: We’ve done our best to try and answer all of those questions. We tried to get a team in there. The World Health Organization tried to get a team in there. And they have failed. No one’s been allowed to go to this lab or any of the other laboratories — there are many labs inside of China, Martha. This risk remains.”
Critics of China have said the country downplayed the severity of the coronavirus and demand the country should be “held accountable” for not being more transparent about the threat the virus posed to the world.
“You know, China has long been the most significant geopolitical threat the United States faces,” Sen. Ted Cruz has previously said. “And we’ve always viewed it as a human rights offense when they censor and silence free speech.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has attempted to present itself as a scapegoat for the coronavirus, arguing that the assertion it is responsible for the pandemic is prejudiced.
