Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaDiplomacy

Germany pushes China for answers to coronavirus origin

  • China says Covid-19 is a scientific issue and should be investigated by scientists and medical experts
  • While pushing for more transparency, Germany and France have steered clear of US suspicions about Wuhan virology lab

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the more transparent China is about the origin of the virus, the better it is for everyone. Photo: EPA-EFE
Stuart LauandCatherine Wong
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pressed China for transparency about the origin of the coronavirus, following similar concerns raised by the French president in a show of disapproval over Beijing’s handling of the pandemic.

Merkel joins a growing chorus demanding that China release more information about the virus, underlining the level of unease for the European leader who is generally seen as less critical of the Chinese government in public.

Despite mounting international pressure, Chinese government advisers have indicated that Beijing is unlikely to bow to the United States to allow a visit to a Wuhan virology lab, the focal point of US conspiracy theories that the virus was engineered.

Both France and Germany have distanced themselves from US claims suggesting a possible link between the virus and the lab – claims also rejected by China.

But, Merkel said on Monday that she believed that “the more transparent China is about the origin of the virus, the better it is for everyone in the world in order to learn from it”.

She was asked about similar remarks made by German Development Minister Gerd Mueller, who said last week that the Chinese government “had to show complete openness in this world crisis – especially with regard to the origin of the virus”.

In response to US allegations that Beijing hid the origin of the coronavirus, Mueller said China “should have entered into international exchanges about the spread of the virus in Wuhan faster”.

The issue also came amid a row between the Chinese embassy in Berlin and Germany’s biggest newspaper by circulation, Bild, prompting the editor-in-chief to publish a video in English questioning the Chinese political system, a rare move for the newspaper which traditionally has a more domestic focus.

Advertisement