Pakistan Foreign Office on Sunday rejected media reports about so-called China’s Wuhan Lab conducting alleged covert operations in Pakistan in the backdrop of COVID-19.

In response to a media question about the Klaxon story on China’s Wuhan Lab conducting alleged covert operations in Pakistan, the Foreign Office spokesperson, in a statement issued in Islamabad, stated, “It is a politically motivated and fake story, composed of distortion of facts and fabrications that quote anonymous sources.”

“There is nothing secret about the Bio-Safety Level-3 (BSL-3) Laboratory of Pakistan referred to in the report. Pakistan has been sharing information about the facility with the States Parties to the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC) in its submission of Confidence Building Measures.”

“The facility is meant for diagnostic and protective system improvement by Research and Development (R&D) on emerging health threats, surveillance and disease outbreak investigation.”

Pakistan strictly abides by its BTWC obligations and has been one of the most vocal supporters for a strong verification mechanism to ensure full compliance by the States Parties to the Convention.

The Foreign Office said that attempt to cast aspersions about the facility is particularly absurd against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the need for better preparedness in the areas of disease surveillance and control and international collaborations in that regard, consistent with Article X of BTWC.

It is pertinent to note that “The Klaxon” claimed so-called investigative newspaper specialising in exposing “business malfeasance” and “government corruption”.

Australia based Editor Anthony Klan also claimed to be an “investigative journalist”.

Interestingly, his website which claimed to be investigative journalism has a dedicated section of SUPPORT and “The Kalxon” asked the readers to support “independent journalism” for $5, $10, $10 and $50 per month.

“The Klaxon” has published anti-China stories in the past as well.