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China says US intelligence report into Covid-19 origins will unleash new wave of anti-Asian racism
- Embassy in Washington denounces ‘unscientific’ report for ‘scapegoating’ China and warns it will prompt violence and discrimination
- The report compiled by the intelligence service was inconclusive, but could not rule out the possibility the coronavirus leaked from a laboratory
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China has denounced the “unscientific” US intelligence services report on the origins of Covid-19, saying it threatens to unleash a new wave of racism against Asian people.
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Beijing has stepped up its attacks on the US investigation following the release of the unclassified version of the report, which did not rule out the possibility that the coronavirus had leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
“The US government has asked its intelligence agencies to conduct a so-called origins tracing report, which presumed China’s guilt, to scapegoat China for its own failures in fighting the virus.
“The approach that they have adopted will only disturb and destroy global efforts to trace its origins and control the pandemic, mislead the American public and prompt a new wave of discrimination and violence against Asians,” China’s embassy in Washington said in a statement on Saturday.
“The Chinese embassy solemnly warns Chinese nationals in the US to step up their safety precautions and be alert to the discrimination and violence on Asians.”
The US report, while unable to identify the origins of the virus, concluded that it was not designed as a biological weapon. It also warned that time was running out to gather evidence about its beginnings, an accusation that the US had been making about China since President Joe Biden asked the intelligence agencies to carry out an investigation in May.
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