HANOI – China is not participating in a UN investigation into Asia’s ‘wet markets’, where deadly infectious diseases can be transmitted from wild animals to humans.
At the end of December 2019, the corona virus started spreading in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province. The infection is said to have spread from wet markets there.
It is customary in China to eat not only chicken, goat, cow and fish, but also various wild animals.
In addition to the meat of these animals, various wild animals are commonly sold alive in cages in Chinese markets for eating and medicinal purposes. Markets selling these are called wet markets.
Apart from China, these wet markets are also present in various Asian countries including Thailand and Malaysia. After the spread of the corona virus, the UN planned to investigate wet markets in Asia.
Through this study, the UN planned to regulate the markets by knowing the health of those markets, which wild animals are at risk of infecting humans, and how they are handled.
The study was originally planned to be conducted in the Asian countries of China, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. China initially agreed to participate, but then slowly withdrew.
In this regard, it is said that China is avoiding talks with the UN. Disappointed, international researchers are unhappy with China.