Biegon hailed China for rallying behind global fight against the pandemic through donation of vaccines and other essential medical supplies while rich Western nations take a back seat.

He stressed that the finding of a previous study suggesting that the virus could have been circulating in Europe in as early as September 2019 should not be dismissed.

According to Biegon, the misinformation about the virus origin perpetuated by Western powers could undermine its containment amid emergence of highly contagious strains.

He added the petition by Chinese citizens for a probe into activities of the US Fort Detrick biological laboratory was justified since it might unmask a possible link to the virus origin.