(Eagle News) — U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the nation’s intelligence community to have a more definitive answer on the origin of Covid-19 and he wants the report in 90 days.
In a release from the White House, Biden said that’s he is asking the Intelligence Community (IC) to “redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information.”
“As part of that report, I have asked for areas of further inquiry that may be required, including specific questions for China,” Biden stated.
He said the failure of U.S. inspectors in getting access to China in the early months of the pandemic hampered the investigation into the origin of Covid-19.
According to the reports from U.S. Intelligence, there are two views of the origin of Covid-19. The first scenario is that the virus emerged from human contact with an infected animal, the second is that it began as a result of a laboratory accident.
“Here is their current position: ‘while two elements in the IC leans toward the former scenario and one leans more toward the latter – each with low or moderate confidence – the majority of elements do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other,’ ” Biden stated in the release.
Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee called on China to be more cooperative in the investigation.
“Beijing’s continued obstruction of a transparent, comprehensive examination of the relevant facts and data about the source of the coronavirus can only delay the vital work necessary to help the world better prepare itself before the next potential pandemic,” Schiff said.
The White House is reaching out to allies to pressure China in being more forthcoming when it comes to sharing data and information about the origins of Covid-19.
The theory that Covid-19 was leaked from a Chinese lab has angered China.
China foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused Washington of “spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation.”
When asked about the United States’ position on whether the virus was deliberately engineered to become a bioweapon, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “We haven’t ruled out anything yet.”
(Eagle News Service)