Blinken calls on China to be transparent, share information for probe into COVID-19 origins

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday called on China to provide transparency, access for internal experts and information sharing, as investigators continue their investigations into the origins of COVID-19.

When asked by host John Dickerson on CBS’s “Face the Nation” if the U.S. has any sway in getting cooperation from the Chinese on the probe of a potential lab leak in the start of COVID-19, Blinken said the world is “insisting on it.”

“I think the, not only the United States but the world is insisting on it. But one of the things that’s coming out of the G7 is an insistence that the WHO be able to move forward with China cooperating on this so-called phase two report to build on the initial report, which had real problems with it, not the least of which was China’s failure to cooperate,” Blinken said.

“China has to cooperate with that. Transparency, access for international experts, information sharing, that has to happen. And again, I think you’re seeing countries coming together to insist on that,” he added.

Blinken’s comments come as President Biden is in England meeting with Group of Seven (G-7) leaders, where China has been a chief focus among the countries.

Biden in May called on the intelligence community to “redouble” its efforts to probe the origins of COVID-19, and report back to him in 90 days.