Biden Calls for More Transparency from China on Covid Origins: We Need to Know If It Came from a Bat or a Lab

President Joe Biden said during his post-G7 summit press conference that China needs to show more transparency on the investigation into the origins of Covid-19.

Biden was asked during the press conference about the G7 Communique and how there is mention of China, but not as strong as what the U.S. wanted.

In the final G-7 Communique, relevant language on China values/human rights the U.S. played a primary role in pushing to include: pic.twitter.com/5dJEC8uD2S

— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) June 13, 2021

The president responded by saying, “Last time the G7 met there was no mention of China. But this time there is mention of China. The G7 explicitly agreed to called out human right abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.”

Another reporter asked about what he thinks China “needs to do to ease tensions.”

“I think China has to start to act more responsibly in terms of international norms and human rights and transparency,” Biden responded. “Transparency matters across the board.”

He pointed to the need for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus:

One of the things I raised — and others raised, I wasn’t the only one who raised this at the G7 — is that we don’t know, we haven’t had access for the laboratories to determine whether or not — and I have not reached a conclusion because our intelligence community is not certain yet — whether or not this was a consequence of a… from the marketplace of a bat interfacing with animals in the environment that caused this covid-19, or whether it was an experiment gone awry in a laboratory.

“It’s important to know the answer to that,” the president said. “We have to have access. The world has to have access.”

You can watch above, via CNN.