China accuses US officials of lying on COVID lab leak: 'Track record of making up stories'

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FBI director reveals China lab leak 'most likely' in exclusive Fox interview

'Special Report' panelists discuss COVID origins and the Twitter files following Bret Baier's exclusive interview with FBI director Christopher Wray. 

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed U.S. officials' claims that a lab leak is the most likely explanation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning addressed the issue Wednesday during a press conference.

FBI DIRECTOR SAYS COVID PANDEMIC 'MOST LIKELY' ORIGINATED FROM CHINESE LAB

FBI Director Christopher Wray listens during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

"The origins-tracing is a complex matter of science. This study should be and can only be conducted jointly by scientists around the world," Mao told reporters.

"'A laboratory origin of the pandemic was considered to be extremely unlikely' is a science-based, authoritative conclusion reached by the experts of the WHO-China joint mission after field trips to the lab in Wuhan and in-depth communication with researchers," she continued. "It was accurately recorded in the mission’s report and has received extensive recognition from the international community and the science community."

REPUBLICANS CALL FOR 'FULL TRANSPARENCY' AFTER FBI DIRECTOR SAYS COVID 'MOST LIKELY' ORIGINATED IN CHINESE LAB

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning gestures during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing. (AP Photo/Liu Zheng, File)

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News' "Special Report" the COVID-19 pandemic was likely caused by a lab leak in Wuhan, China.

"The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Wray said in an interview that aired Tuesday. "Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab." 

ANOTHER US AGENCY ASSESSES COVID-19 ORIGIN LIKELY A CHINESE 'LAB LEAK': REPORT

Signage stands outside the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Wray said the FBI has specialists who focus on "the dangers of biological threats, which include things like novel viruses like COVID, and the concerns that they [are] in the wrong hands [of] some bad guys, a hostile nation state, a terrorist, a criminal."

Mao accused Wray and other U.S. officials backing the lab leak theory of "political manipulation" and cited a "track record" of "making up stories," claiming they lack credibility.

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A researcher works in a lab in Wuhan in central China, Hubei province. (Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

"China strongly opposes political manipulation of the origins-tracing issue in any form. Putting the intelligence community in charge of a matter of science is a clear sign that the issue has been politicized," Mao told the press Wednesday. 

She added, "Given the U.S. intelligence community’s track record of making up stories, there is little, if any, credibility in their conclusions. The US will not succeed in discrediting China by rehashing the "lab leak" theory, but will only hurt the U.S.’s own reputation."

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FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a news conference in Omaha, Nebraska. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Wray's comments come after the Department of Energy has also recently assessed that the COVID-19 pandemic was likely caused by an accidental lab leak in China.

The National Intelligence Council as well as four other government agencies assess at "low confidence" that COVID-19 originated as a result of natural transmission from an infected animal, but the CIA and other government agencies remain undecided.

Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.