US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday In an interview with ABC that there was “huge evidence”,

Covid-19 emerged in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first detected in December last year. He did not provide details to support the claim.In response to Pompeo’s comments, China’s state newspaper told Global Times in an editorial Monday that the former CIA director had “stunned the world with baseless accusations.”

“Since Pompeo said his claims are backed by” enormous evidence “, he should present this so-called evidence to the world, and especially to the American public that he is constantly trying to deceive,” the editorial board said.

“The truth is that Pompeo has no evidence, and during Sunday’s interview he bluffed.”

CNN reached out to China’s foreign ministry for comment on Pompeo’s claims, but received no response. The country is in the middle of a five-day holiday that runs through Tuesday.It has scientists all over the world condemned conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin, and points to studies suggesting that it originated in wildlife.China has faced criticism at home and abroad for its handling of the virus, especially during the first outbreak. It was blamed silent whistleblowers and delay in informing the public about the severity of the crisis.

But critics claim Washington has put down attempts to blame China for the global spread of the virus as it faces increasing criticism at home for its own handling of the pandemic. To date, the United States has registered more than 1.1 million cases and at least 67,000 Covid-19 related deaths.

Beijing has retaliated with its own propaganda efforts, accusing the United States of shifting blame and shaming allegations of deliberate cover-up in the critical early stages.Last Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang accused “American politicians” to tell lies about the pandemic.

“They have only one goal: to try to take responsibility for their own epidemic and prevention and control measures and direct attention to the public person,” he said.April 30, China’s state news agency Xinhua released an animated video with Lego-like figures who mocked America’s response to the pandemic. It has been viewed 1.9 million times on Twitter.

On Monday, the Global Times editorial board accused the White House of continuing to “engage in unparalleled propaganda warfare while trying to hinder global efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“While the US presidential campaigns are underway, the Trump administration has implemented a strategy designed to divert attention from the incompetence it has shown in the fight against the pandemic. It is clear that their goal is to blame China for the pandemic by charting the country as the source of Covid-19, “it says.