Coronavirus: Lab Leak Part 11 - China Doesn't Want to Cooperate

I recently posted that the World Health Organization wanted "China to be more transparent as scientists searched for the coronavirus' origins." The organization wanted cooperation when it came to the lab leak hypothesis.

That public urging didn't seem to cause China to budge much when it comes to cooperation. Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times (Jul 22): 

China cannot accept the World Health Organization’s plan for the second phase of a study into the origins of the coronavirus, a senior Chinese health official said Thursday.

Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the National Health Commission, said he was “rather taken aback” that the plan includes further investigation of the theory that the virus might have leaked from a Chinese lab. He dismissed the lab leak idea as a rumor that ran counter to common sense and science.

Here's some wording comparisons that I find interesting in the article. When it comes to the Chinese lab leak theory, the Associated Press states the following:

Most experts don’t think a lab leak is the likely cause. The question is whether the possibility is so remote that it should be dropped, or whether it merits further study.

When it comes to the possibility that the lab leak actually happened in the United States, it states:    

Government spokespersons have called for an investigation into whether the virus might have been produced in a U.S. military laboratory, a theory not widely shared in the scientific community.

Is the Associated Press basically giving both theories the same likelihood of occurring?