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By Micah McCartney
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China has responded after the World Health Organization (WHO) again urged it to disclose data that could shed more light on the origins of COVID-19, which killed over 7 million people worldwide.
Newsweek reached out to the WHO by email with a request for comment.
Why It Matters
The WHO has for years been asking China for more information about the virus behind the initial outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei Province, five years ago. Chinese authorities covered up the outbreak for weeks before notifying citizens and the international community.
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The U.S. and others believe China has not provided a full and clear account of the outbreak. Beijing insists it has been transparent and bristles at such concerns, accusing critics of "politicization." In 2020, China imposed punitive tariffs on Australian exports after Canberra called for an independent inquiry—some of these duties were only lifted last year.
What To Know
The WHO's push for more information has continued even after it sent a fact-finding mission to Wuhan in January 2021. The experts were given limited access to raw data, patient records, and personnel involved early in the outbreak. Maria Van Kerkhove, infectious disease epidemiologist and technical lead for the WHO's COVID-19 response, has called China's limited disclosure "simply inexcusable."
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"We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of COVID-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative. Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics," the WHO wrote in a Monday statement.
Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said during Tuesday's regular press briefing that China had shared data about the outbreak and genome sequencing "at the earliest time possible." The country has also shared its anti-pandemic and clinical experience "without reservation," she added, "making great contributions to the global effort of fighting against COVID-19."
She also said there are "increasing clues" COVID may have originated outside of China—a claim Beijing has repeated since early in the pandemic, but one not widely backed by the scientific community.
What People Are Saying
World Health Organization: "Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics."
Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
"China is the only country that has invited more than once WHO expert groups to come into the country to conduct joint origins study."
"China is also the only country that has organized multiple events for its experts to share progress on origins-tracing with WHO. On the origins-tracing of COVID-19, China has shared more data and research findings and contributed more to worldwide COVID-19 origins study than any other country."
What's Next?
Mao stressed that Beijing "stands ready to work with all parties to continue advancing global science-based origins-tracing study and make active contributions to better guard against infectious diseases in the future."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an address last month that if another pandemic were to strike today, the world would still face some of the same weaknesses.
He cited WHO efforts to better prepare for such a contingency, including support for member states to improve laboratory surveillance and sequencing of pathogens, support for local production of vaccines, and $338 million in grants to strengthen pandemic resilience across 37 countries.
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