WASHINGTON: China's embassy in Washington Friday accused the US intelligence community of "political manipulation" after a report in which Beijing was accused of withholding key information about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The report by the US intelligence community shows that the US is bent on going down the wrong path of political manipulation," the embassy said in a statement. "The report by the intelligence community is based on the presumption of guilt on the part of China, and it is only for scapegoating China."