Chinese state media caught quoting fictitious Swiss scientist questioning Covid probe
The first cases were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan
Chinese state media has been caught quoting a fictitious Swiss scientist called Wilson Edwardson the politicisation of the COVID-19 origin probe.
The country's media was using the name of thealleged Swiss biologist saying he wrote a post in July on Facebook criticising the United States position on the World Health Organization (WHO) probe in China.
Edwardsclaimed that US President Joe Biden’s administration was trying to reclaim its influence in the WHO, after his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew US membership from the international body in April 2020 as the pandemic began.
“I have the impression that WHO’s new plans, which include lab audits, are largely politically motivated,” Edwards was quoted as writing on the social media platform.
But afterthe Switzerland embassy in Beijing said it was 'fake news,' major state media outlets in China rushed to scrub references to theSwiss scientist from their news articles.
The embassy statement added: “While we assume that the spreading of this story was done in good faith by the media and netizens, we kindly ask that anyone having published this story take it down and publish a corrigendum.”
People’s Daily (PD), China Daily and national broadcaster CGTN were among state media outlets that had published articles quoting him, attributing it to Edwards’ Facebook profile.
The WHO this month proposed a second phase of studies into the origins of the coronavirus in China, including audits of laboratories and markets in the city of Wuhan, calling for transparency from authorities.
China denies a genetically modified coronavirus leaked from the facility in Wuhan,where the first COVID-19 cases were detected in 2019,a leading but unproven theory among some experts. Beijing also denies allegations of a cover-up.
(With inputs from agencies)