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After disclosing that a Swiss scientist is a fictitious character, China’s main official media deleted the reference to a Swiss scientist from their news articles, whose statement on the COVID-19 pandemic investigation was forged.
The so-called biologist named Wilson Edwards published an article on Facebook in July criticizing the US’s position on the World Health Organization (WHO) investigation in China.
To quote Edwards, contrary to reports, it is not China but the United States that will politicize the investigation.
He continues to claim that after his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew from international organizations in April 2020 as the pandemic began, the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to restore his Influence in the WHO.
“My impression is that WHO’s new plans, including laboratory audits, are mainly politically motivated,” Edwards wrote on social media platforms.
Chinese state-owned publications, including China Daily and Global Times, quickly captured Edwards’s so-called statement, which strengthened Beijing’s own position and rejected more attempts by the United States and WHO to study humans and COVID-19 Communication between the links.
An article in the “Global Times” highlighted Edwards’ “Intimidation Statement”, and a headline of a public opinion in the People’s Daily cited the same scientist’s “U.S. Attempt” to overthrow the WHO report on COVID.
On Tuesday, the Swiss Embassy in Beijing issued a statement stating that there is no Swiss citizen surnamed Wilson Edwards, adding that officials could not find any academic articles written by the author.
“In the past few days, China has published a large number of news articles and social media posts citing a supposedly Swiss biologist. Although we are grateful for the attention to our country, unfortunately, the Swiss Embassy must notify China. The public, this news is fake,” it added.
Look for Wilson Edwards, allegedly a 🇨🇭 biologist, who has been quoted in Chinese media and social media in the past few days. If you exist, we want to know you! But this is more likely to be fake news. We call on Chinese media and netizens to withdraw these posts. pic.twitter.com/U6ku5EGibm
— Swiss Embassy in Beijing (@SwissEmbChina) August 10, 2021
After the Swiss embassy issued a statement, the Global Times deleted this article, and another article published by China Daily deleted the forged quote.
The long-term investigation into the origin of COVID-19, first reported in Wuhan, China, is increasingly controversial.
Washington is urging the WHO to carefully study the theory of the Wuhan laboratory leak and return to China, while Beijing is rejecting such efforts by the United Nations agency.
China has repeatedly denied the responsibility of laboratories, accusing the United States and other countries of trying to distract themselves from their failure to control the virus.
In March of this year, a study on the origin of COVID-19 jointly carried out by WHO and China showed that the spread of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely situation, and laboratory leaks are “extremely unlikely.”
The results of the survey were largely in line with expectations, but left many unanswered questions. The author proposes to conduct further research in every area except the laboratory leak hypothesis.
The report has been postponed repeatedly, raising doubts Whether the Chinese Attempts to distort the conclusions to prevent the pandemic from being blamed on China.
In July, the WHO stated that the second phase of the investigation of the origin of the coronavirus should include further research and laboratory “audits” in China.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has put forward five priorities for the next phase of the investigation, including “prioritizing the study of geographical areas with the earliest signs of SARS CoV-2 transmission”.
However, China rejected the proposal, saying that researchers should prioritize the “very possible” possibility that the virus originated in animals and expand their work to other countries in the world.
Zeng Yixin, vice minister of China’s National Health Commission, told the State Council Information Office that the WHO team proposed to return to the central city of Wuhan they visited earlier this year and investigate the following hypothesis. He was “surprised” that it had leaked from the laboratory.
It has been said that such a move is “unscientific.”
Liang Wannian, a Chinese scientist who leads the World Health Organization team, dismissed doubts about China’s transparency, saying that it is impossible to publicly share the original data of the earliest patients or allow copying for privacy reasons.
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