U.S. cannot whitewash its failure in pandemic response by smearing China: ambassador

Passengers with face masks are seen in a bus in New York City, the United States, Aug. 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

MANILA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The United States can not whitewash its failure in COVID-19 pandemic response by smearing China on origins tracing, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said Monday.

"The U.S. administration, in disregard of science and in favor of political manipulation, has persistently instructed its intelligence community to compile a so-called report on the origins of COVID-19 and released a statement slandering and attacking China," Huang wrote in an article published in the Manila Times, a daily English-language newspaper in the Philippines.

It is a mendacious report made up for political purposes, Huang said. "What the United States is really up to is to shift the responsibility of its failure in pandemic response domestically and scapegoat China."

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has shared its first-hand response experience with the international community in a timely manner and provided anti-pandemic assistance to the world to the best of its ability, said the ambassador.

China has all along taken a scientific attitude as it engages in global cooperation on science-based origins tracing, said Huang. "It is actually the United States that is not being transparent, responsible and cooperative on this issue."