Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has claimed that several global initiatives to trace the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus are politically motivated.
He made the comment following the signing of an MoU between the Chinese company Sinopharm and local pharmaceutical giant Incepta on joint production of the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday.
Biased origin-tracing studies are “a political virus” that is posing an ever-increasing threat to cooperation against the pandemic, according to the ambassador.
“China believes that tracing the origin of the virus is very important and it could give us clues to predict and prevent future pandemics. Covid-19 origin-tracing is a serious scientific issue that should not be manipulated by politics,” he said.
“Origin tracing can only be done by scientists, not by politicians or intelligence personnel of any country,” Li Jiming added.
“China does not oppose origin studies based on science. What we oppose are origin studies based on politics and using politicized origin tracing as a tool to exhaust China’s diplomatic resources,” he further said.
He also said China had successfully concluded the phase I origin study with the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the results have been widely recognised by the international community and global scientists.
He also thanked Bangladesh for expressing dissatisfaction with conducting a phase II study as per WHO plans.
Mentioning the credibility of Chinese vaccines, the ambassador said: “China has provided vaccines to Covax, UN peacekeepers and the International Olympic Committee. The safety and efficacy of Chinese vaccines have gained authoritative recognition internationally. We are striving to provide two billion doses to the world in the course of this year.”
As of Monday, Bangladesh had received 2.1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine as gifts from China, 8 million of doses purchased from the country, as well as 3.4 million doses under the Covax facility.