Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Michael Chong, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement today in response to the report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic:  
 
“Conservatives have serious concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to limit the WHO’s investigation and subsequent report into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to delaying the start of the investigation, authorities in Beijing did not allow WHO investigators unfettered access to pursue the scientific evidence. As a result, we still do not have conclusive evidence about where the virus came from. Determining the exact origin of the virus is essential if we are to prevent the next global pandemic.
 
“Conservatives call on the Trudeau government to make it clear to Beijing that its lack of cooperation in determining the origin of the virus is unacceptable. 
 
“We also call on the Trudeau government to work multilaterally with the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, and other like-minded allies to put pressure on Beijing to lift the veil of secrecy and allow an independent investigation. There cannot be any restrictions on investigators in their pursuit to uncover where this virus came from.  
 
“Finally, we call on the Liberal government to work multilaterally with allies to seek the reform of the WHO, which too often during this pandemic has given in to China’s demands thereby undermining the global response to this pandemic.”
 

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For more information:
 
Office of the Hon. Michael Chong, M.P.
Michael.Chong@parl.gc.ca
613-992-4179