Photo by Edward Jenner
China has strongly refuted recent allegations from the United States that the Covid-19 pandemic originated in Wuhan, releasing a white paper suggesting that the virus may, in fact, have emerged in the US. This move comes as tensions between the two nations escalate over the origins of the global health crisis.
The document, titled “Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China’s Actions and Stance”, was published on Wednesday and asserts that Washington is attempting to deflect responsibility by politicising the search for the virus’s source. According to the paper, “Substantial evidence suggests that Covid-19 might have emerged in the United States earlier than its officially claimed timeline, and earlier than the outbreak in China.”
The Chinese government accused the US of failing to take the pandemic seriously in its early stages. It criticized American officials for repeatedly downplaying the virus by comparing it to the seasonal flu and suggesting it would vanish on its own. “The US not only botched its own response to Covid-19; it also obstructed and sabotaged international cooperation in various ways,” the report stated. It further alleged that the US “deliberately concealed critical information,” which undermined global understanding and efforts led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
China’s report emphasized that it had communicated key findings with WHO and other countries in a timely and transparent manner. It cited a joint WHO-China investigation that concluded a laboratory leak in Wuhan was “extremely unlikely,” and urged the US to face international scrutiny and respond to global concerns with honesty.
The Chinese white paper appears to be a direct rebuttal to a US government website launched on April 18, 2025, titled “Lab Leak: The True Origins of Covid-19”. The US website presents what it calls growing evidence that the virus did not occur naturally but resulted from a lab accident or experiment gone wrong.
According to the site, “The virus possesses a biological signature not found in nature. All Covid-19 infections can be traced back to a single point of origin, unlike past pandemics which involved multiple zoonotic spillovers.” The US accuses China of conducting risky scientific research, including gene-editing experiments, that could endanger human life.
The American report directly links the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) to the initial outbreak, claiming that the lab—known for its work on SARS-like viruses—had a track record of gain-of-function research conducted at questionable biosafety levels. It also suggests that several WIV researchers showed symptoms consistent with Covid-19 as early as autumn 2019, well before the virus was publicly identified at a seafood market in Wuhan.
The US argues that the lack of definitive evidence supporting a natural origin strongly suggests a laboratory source. “If there were a natural origin, science would have uncovered it by now. But no such evidence has surfaced,” the website claims.
In light of the escalating war of words, China is calling on the United States to stop politicising the pandemic and instead participate in a cooperative, scientific investigation. Meanwhile, both countries continue to trade accusations, as the debate over Covid-19’s true origin remains unresolved and politically charged.
