Following Russia’s allegations that the US is funding Biological Weapons labs in Ukraine, which the US dismisses as “disinformation,” China is adding fuel to the fire by repeating the same talking points and urging the US to disprove the rumors.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry urged American leaders to provide “thorough clarification” regarding any Biological military activities in Chinese state-run media.
“This will help restore the international community’s faith in the United States’ ability to fulfill its international obligations and strengthen global biosecurity,” Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson, said.
According to the United Nations, there are no biological weapons programs in Ukraine.
“The United States does not support any biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine, not near Russia’s border or anywhere else,” said UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the United States has always claimed to be “open and transparent.” “Why doesn’t the US release detailed materials to prove its innocence if the concerns are truly ‘disinformation?’”
Zhao claims that the United States spent $200 million on bio-labs, and he questions what kind of research is being done.
According to the US Department of Defense, the Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) is part of the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) initiative, which aims to “support peaceful and safe biological detection and diagnostic capabilities, as well as reduce the threats posed by pathogens” (DOD). The BTRP, according to the Ukraine Embassy, is designed to combat outbreaks of the world’s most dangerous infections.
According to the Department of Defense, the US has invested approximately $200 million in Ukraine through the BTRP since 2005, supporting over 40 Ukrainian labs, health facilities, and diagnostic sites.
In a fact sheet about the CTR program, the DOD states, “DoD’s CTR Program began its biological work with Ukraine to reduce the risk posed by the former Soviet Union’s illegal biological weapons program, which left Soviet successor states with unsecured biological materials after the fall of the USSR.”
The Department of Defense claims to have worked with a variety of countries on its CTR program, even claiming to have worked in Russian-owned laboratories until 2014.
Zhao questioned why US officials refuse to allow international experts to conduct independent research in Ukrainian labs. He went on to accuse the United States of being self-contradictory, claiming that the country “points fingers” at other countries for noncompliance but refuses to verify its own actions.
“This is a classic example of a double standard. Furthermore, given the US’s lack of credibility, gaining the trust of the international community is extremely difficult “Zhao expressed his thoughts.
Russia and China’s conspiracy theories, according to the US Department of State, are merely attempts to justify Moscow’s hostility toward Ukraine.
“The Kremlin is spreading outright lies that the US and Ukraine are conducting chemical and biological weapons activities in Ukraine,” said Ned Price, a spokesperson for the US Department of State. “We’ve also seen officials from the PRC [People’s Republic of China] echo these conspiracy theories.”
However, given Russia’s history of falsely accusing other countries of committing the same violations it does, US officials believe Russia is planning to use chemical or biological weapons against the Ukrainian people.
“Russia has a history of accusing the West of the same crimes that Russia is committing,” Price continued. “Russia’s tactics are clearly intended to justify more premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attacks on Ukraine. We fully expect Russia to continue to make unsubstantiated claims in the future.”
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