ISTANBUL

China on Wednesday accused the United States of “indifference and delayed actions” during the global fight against COVID-19 and alleged that Washington has scapegoated Beijing to deflect from "its own mismanaged" pandemic response.

The claims were made in a newly released White Paper by China’s State Council Information Office, titled “Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China’s Actions and Stance.”

The document asserts that “substantial evidence” suggests COVID-19 “might have emerged in the United States earlier than its officially-claimed timeline, and earlier than the outbreak in China,” calling for a detailed investigation into the virus’ origins on American soil.

“The US has made China the primary scapegoat for its own mismanaged COVID-19 response,” the paper stated, accusing Washington of spreading misinformation and wasting “precious time China had secured for the global fight against the pandemic.”

Beijing’s claims come in response to a new White House website launched on April 18, which alleges that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak in China -- a theory the Chinese government has repeatedly rejected.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 7 million lives globally as of April 13. The first known cases were reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

The WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and officially ended the public health emergency status on May 5, 2023.