Beijing
China’s state broadcaster CCTV on Monday attacked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “insane and evasive remarks” over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, further fuelling Sino-US tensions.
Titled “Evil Pompeo is wantonly spewing poison and spreading lies”, the harshly-worded commentary cited WHO executive director Mike Ryan and Columbia University virologist W. Ian Lipkin, who claimed that the virus is natural in origin and was not man-made or leaked from a laboratory. “These flawed and unreasonable remarks by American politicians make it clear to more and more people that no ‘evidence’ exists,” the commentary said.