US' virus claims 'political manipulation'

Some US Congress members' bills accusing China of lacking transparency or being responsible for the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States are nothing but "political manipulation," Chinese lawmakers said.

"China has strictly followed the procedures stipulated by law and released information at the earliest possible time," said Zheng Shuna, a deputy to the National People's Congress, the country's national legislature, noting that a detailed timeline on China's COVID-19 response has been released.

Zheng said it has been proven that the Chinese government has taken the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures to promptly cut off the chain of virus transmission, and the accusation that a lack of transparency in China led to delays in the US epidemic response is a fallacy.

NPC deputy Xu Anbiao said identifying the source of the virus is a serious question of science, which must be carefully studied by scientists and medical experts.

Chinese health professionals and scientists were the first to share with the world the full genome sequence of the novel coronavirus and the first to isolate the virus strain, actively exploring treatment methods and developing test kits, thus making a tremendous contribution to the global fight against the disease, Xu added.

NPC deputy Yu Zhigang said some US Congress members in their bills groundlessly shifted the blame onto China or even unreasonably asked the US government to bring litigation against China.

The bills, which have no logic at all, have exposed these people's appalling arrogance and paranoia, Yu said.

He said the attempt to claim damages from China violates the principle of sovereign equality enshrined in international law, challenges the internationally recognized principle of sovereign immunity and disturbs the normal international order, Yu said.

Xinhua