Prime Minister Johnson points out that “Corona 19 is blamed for pangolin” China’sparks’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (photo) has pointed out the’pangolin’ as the origin of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). China, the largest demand for pangolins, refuted, saying that it was a “guess without evidence”.

According to the UK Daily Mail on the 13th (local time), Prime Minister Johnson mentioned this in a speech at the’One Earth Summit’ online event hosted by French President Immanuel Macron on the 11th.

He said of Corona 19, “We must not forget that the Corona 19 pandemic is the product of an imbalance between nature and humans,” and “unless we protect nature, we will not be in balance with the earth.” “Like the first plague that hit the ancient Greeks, Corona 19 is a virus originating from wild animals,” he said. “It started with the capture of bats and pangolins. We must stop it.”

Although Prime Minister Johnson did not mention China directly, considering that China is the largest consumer of pangolins, it can be interpreted as targeting China. In particular, the hypothesis that the Corona 19 virus originated from bats in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China from the outbreak of the pandemic and spread to humans through wild animals such as pangolins has gained strength.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Li Zhen criticized this as “unfounded speculation or exaggerated debate hampers international cooperation to uncover the origins of Corona 19.” Spokesman Hwa Chun-ying also criticized that “the origin of Corona 19 must be approached scientifically,” and “excessive speculation and speculation will only cause division of the international community.”

China has so far held the position that Wuhan, in Hubei Province, was the first place where Corona 19 was discovered, not the place where it originated.

Meanwhile, according to Johns Hopkins University, since Corona 19 was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019, the number of confirmed cases worldwide has exceeded 90 million. The death toll is approaching 2 million.

Reporter Dayoung Kim [email protected]