China wants to expand probe into origin of coronavirus

CHINESE health officials are pushing to expand the search for the origins of coronavirus beyond China, a day after the release of a closely watched World Health Organisation report.

They also rejected criticism that Beijing did not give enough data to a WHO team of international experts that visited Wuhan, the city where the first cases were detected, earlier this year.

The search for the origins of the virus has become a diplomatic feud. The US and other Western nations have repeatedly raised questions about delays, transparency and data access.

“If we limit the study of origin within China, I think this is a scientific misunderstanding, because the source is still unclear,” said Liang Wannian, the head of the Chinese team that worked with the WHO experts. Experts agree that the virus could have come from elsewhere, with neighbouring countries in south-east Asia a possibility, but China’s insistence on broadening the research seems partly politically motivated in the face of Western criticism.