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US claims of China coronavirus lab leak an ‘attempt to distract’ from Trump’s own mistakes: Germany
- A German intelligence report said the allegations are a ‘calculated attempt to distract’ from Washington’s own failings
- On Wednesday, Secretary of State Pompeo renewed his widely contested charge that the coronavirus likely originated in a Chinese lab
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Why you can trust SCMP
Germany’s defence ministry and BND foreign spy agency have privately cast doubt on American claims that the coronavirus pandemic originated in a Chinese lab, media reported on Friday.
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An internal memo prepared for Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer “classifies the American claims as a calculated attempt to distract” from Washington’s own failings, Der Spiegel reported.
US President Donald Trump is attempting “to distract from his own mistakes and direct Americans’ anger at China”, Spiegel cited from the document. A defence ministry spokesman declined to confirm the existence of the memo when contacted.
Meanwhile, public broadcaster NDR cast doubt on the existence of a reported joint paper from the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance of Britain, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand that allegedly accuses China of playing down the extent of the virus outbreak.
BND chiefs told MPs in a confidential Berlin parliamentary committee hearing that its “Five Eyes” partners claimed to have “no knowledge” of such a report, NDR wrote.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office, responsible for oversight of the BND, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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