China warns Europe stop 'politicizing origin tracing' of pandemic, amid speculation on COVID start

China on Wednesday told Brussels to stop "politicizing the issue of origins tracing" after a European Union official called for more investigations. 

European Research and Innovation Commissioner Mariya Gabriel added her name on Tuesday to a growing group of scientific experts and government representatives from the U.S., Australia and Japan calling on the Chinese government to "reconsider its decision to not engage in the World Health Organization's proposal for the next phase of the COVID-19 origins study."

The most recent message from a Chinese spokesperson tells "relevant parties" to "stop using this issue to scapegoat others and shirk responsibility, and stop deliberately disrupting international cooperation on global origins tracing."

China has refused to comply with the World Health Organization's request for raw data from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which was first discovered in the city of Wuhan. 

China had originally said the virus jumped from animal to human at an outdoor food market in that city, which is also home to the Wuhan Virology Lab, where experiments on coronavirus have been conducted.