China urges relevant parties to stop political manipulation on the COVID-19 origin tracing issue, stop using the issue to shift blame, and stop sabotaging international origin tracing research cooperation, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

The spokesperson made the remarks after 44 countries on Thursday submitted a joint letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and four countries wrote separate letters, on the COVID-19 origin tracing issue. They welcomed the joint WHO-China study on COVID-19 origin tracing, stressing that virus origin tracing is a scientific task, and opposing politicizing the issue.

Forty-eight countries sent letters to the WHO Director-General on origin tracing, stressing that the virus is the common enemy of mankind, and that only by uniting and cooperating can the international community defeat it, the spokesperson said.

They welcomed the joint WHO-China study on COVID-19 origin tracing released by WHO, and believed that this scientific report should be the basis and guide for promoting the global origin tracing work, the spokesperson said.

They pointed out that virus origin tracing is a scientific task, which depends on scientists' investigation and research on a global scale, emphasizing that the origin tracing issue cannot be politicized, the spokesperson added.

They also called on the WHO Secretariat to cooperate with member States to promote global origin tracing research in accordance with relevant resolutions of the World Health Assembly, the spokesperson said.

From the early stage of the pandemic, China has shown a scientific, professional, serious and responsible attitude on origin tracing. China has taken the lead in global origin tracing cooperation with WHO, the spokesperson said, adding that China's open and transparent attitude on the virus origin tracing issue has been fully recognized by international experts.

However, for some time, a few countries, led by the United States, have been stigmatizing the pandemic, labeling the virus and politicizing the origin tracing, the spokesperson said, adding that these behaviors have seriously disrupted and undermined the global origin tracing research cooperation, and created great difficulties for countries to fight the pandemic and save lives.

The overwhelming voice of justice by the vast number of developing countries in the joint letter stands in sharp contrast to the political manipulation, science opposition and facts distortion done by a handful of countries headed by the United States, the spokesperson said, adding that this fully reflects the justice of the international community, and fully demonstrates that the majority of countries uphold fairness, objectivity and justice.

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