Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, stated on Tuesday that the agency has determined that a breach from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, likely caused the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The FBI has determined for quite some time that the probable origin of the pandemic is a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray told Fox News.
His comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the US Energy Department has assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China.
Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still assess that the pandemic was likely the result of natural transmission, and two are undecided, the Journal reported.
However, John Kirby, the national security spokesman for the White House, stated on Monday that the US government has not reached a definitive conclusion and consensus regarding the origins of the pandemic.
Wray said he couldn’t reveal many details of the agency’s assessment because they were classified.
He accused China of “thwarting and obscuring” U.S. and foreign efforts to learn more about the pandemic’s origins.
China asserts that ‘lab leak’ allegations harm US credibility.
In the meantime, Beijing has accused Washington of undermining its credibility with its recent claims.
“The United States once again stirs up the laboratory leak theory, which will not discredit China and will further lower its credibility,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said at a regular briefing on Wednesday.
He reiterated a long-standing and unsubstantiated Chinese claim that the virus may have escaped from the US military research facility at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
The United States should respect science and facts, cooperate as quickly as possible with the World Health Organization, invite international experts to conduct traceability research in its country, and share research results with the international community,” she said.
To better combat or even prevent the next pandemic, the scientific community considers it essential to identify the pandemic’s origins.
