China accuses the US administration of trying to shift the focus from its own flaws in working with coronavirus, spreading the theory that the global pandemic was caused by a leak of pathogen from a Chinese lab, AP reported.

At a briefing Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian asserted that suspicions about the lab were generated by the US “simply to confuse the public, divert attention and shirk responsibility.” 

“We have said many times that tracing of the virus’s origin is a serious scientific issue and requires scientific and professional assessment,” he said.

Scientists say the virus arose naturally in bats. According to this version, human infection started in the Wuhan market, probably from an animal that was infected from a bat.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology specializes in studies of the transmission of such viruses from person to person, but there is no evidence to support the theory that the virus originated in this lab.