China Slams Pompeo Over Coronavirus 'lies'

China is firing back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s claim that there is “enormous evidence” that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory, accusing him of “making up lies and covering up a lie by fabricating more lies.”

The strong language from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a Thursday briefing came as President Donald Trump and his allies continue to express confidence in an unsubstantiated theory linking the origin of the outbreak to a possible accident at a lab in Wuhan.

US officials say they are still exploring the subject and describe the evidence as purely circumstantial.

But Trump, aides say, has embraced the notion to further highlight China’s lack of transparency.

“Under the situation that no scientists and experts can even draw any conclusions, why did Secretary Pompeo want to rush to the conclusion to hold the Wuhan laboratory accountable? Where is his evidence?,” Hua told reporters, while defending the integrity of the Wuhan lab.

“Show us. If he can’t, is he still in the middle of concocting this so-called evidence?”

Hua also said Beijing opposes US interference in its domestic affairs in response to a question about the State Department's decision to delay a report to Congress assessing whether Hong Kong enjoys sufficient autonomy from China to continue receiving special treatment from the US.

Pompeo told a news conference on Wednesday that the report will be delayed "to account for any additional actions" leading up to the annual meeting of Chinese parliament in late May. (Reuters, AP)