China on WHO team in Wuhan, US relations

China confirmed that the World Health Organization team will start field work in a fact-finding mission on the origins of COVID-19 outbreak on Thursday after a two-week quarantine in the Chinese city of Wuhan.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a news conference on Thursday that the experts would have talks, visits and inspections in China to carry out virus-tracing exchanges and cooperation, without providing any details.

China, which has strongly opposed an independent investigation it could not fully control, said the matter was complicated and that Chinese medical staff were preoccupied with new virus clusters in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities.White House Press Secretary Zen Psaki expressed concern Wednesday about what she called "misinformation" coming out of China, adding that the U.S. supports a robust international investigation.

Zhao responded that any negative speculation and politicized interpretation of the mission is inappropriate.

"We hope the U.S. can work with the Chinese side in a responsible manner, respect facts and science, and respect the hard work of the international expert team in tracing the origin of the virus, so that they can conduct scientific research on the virus tracing without any political interference." he said.

Also Thursday, Zhao hoped that the U.S. can create "favorable conditions" for bilateral cooperation as the new U.S climate envoy John Kerry looks forward to China's cooperation on climate issues.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Kerry admitted that the U.S. has serious differences with China on various issues, but pledged that the issues "will never be traded" for U.S. concessions in tackling climate change.China and the U.S. have long been criticizing each other for not doing enough to combat climate change.

Asked about Secretary of State Antony Blinken's support to Southeast Asian countries against China's pressure in the South China Sea, Zhao called on countries outside the region to respect regional countries' efforts to properly deal with maritime disputes and differences.Blinken underscored that the United States rejects China's maritime claims in the South China Sea during the call with Philippine foreign minister Teodoro Locsin Thursday.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and routinely objects to any action by the U.S. military in the region.Separately, Zhao asserted again China's claim in the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku Islands in Japan, and denounced the 1960 Japan-U.S. security treaty as a product of the Cold War.President Joe Biden spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday and offered his administration's commitment to protecting the Senkaku Islands.