Biden move to investigate Covid origins opens new rift in US-China relations

Beijing reacts angrily to calls for WHO to carry out second phase of investigation, while US intelligence split on virus's likely origin

Joe Biden's decision to expand the US investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, with one intelligence agency leaning towards the theory that it escaped from a Wuhan laboratory, has opened a new divide in his administration's already tense relationship with China.

Biden said on Thursday that he would publish the results of the 90-day inquiry, which has made a priority for the intelligence agencies. The move represents a dramatic turnaround from the administration's policy until now of leaving the investigation to the World Health Organization.