Presidency never stopped Donald Trump from calling a spade a spade, or the coronavirus ‘Chinese virus’. The diplomatic relations between the US and China fell to a new low because of that, and China expected things to only improve when the outspoken real estate tycoon was replaced by a seasoned politician in January. Like a seasoned politician, President Joe Biden stuck to etymology while referring to the virus, but ordered his intelligence officials to “redouble” efforts to investigate the origins of Covid-19, including the theory that it came from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
China, predictably, was not amused. “We warn the world, especially Europe, not to fall into the trap laid by the US. China does not want non-cooperation from any nation based on such unscientific findings of the US,” said the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, the highest administrative body in the country, in a statement to THE WEEK. China even alleged that the investigation was to cover up the Americans’ own wrongdoings. Li Xiaojun, director of the State Council Information Office, Beijing, said it was not Wuhan but a military lab in Maryland that might be the source of the coronavirus. “Biden knows well that the best defense is to attack the opponents. He desperately needs to cover up the wrongdoings of the military lab at Fort Detrick (a US Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland) and its labs based in overseas bases as well,” said Li.
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