A Chinese foreign ministry official, Zhao Lijian, has said that the United States Army may have deposited Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China.
The official on Friday promoted the conspiracy theory amidst growing tensions between the two world’s largest economies.
According to him, “It might be the US Army who brought the epidemic into Wuhan.”
Lijian questioned the number of people effected by the virus in the U.S. and the names of the hospitals they were receiving treatment.
He tasked the US to be transparent and disclose to the public their data.
“2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did Coronavirus begin in US? How many people are infected with coronavirus? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!” he said.
Another Chinese official from the ministry, Geng Shuang, on Friday, when asked if the view of Lijian represented the view of the Chinese government, said, “I think you may want to ask certain senior U.S. officials – did they speak on behalf of the U.S. government when they attacked and smeared China recently?”
Top U.S officials recently provoked Chinese nationals when the began to call the virus, ‘Wuhan Virus’ instead of coronavirus or COVID-19, to tag the virus with its place of origin like the German Measles, Ebola virus, etc.
Shuang while speaking about it earlier this week said that the origin of the coronavirus would be determined through “science” as Chinese people are now doubting that the virus originated in Wuhan.
The coronavirus has so far infected over 150,000 people globally with almost 5,000 death recorded.
