A top US leader once again slammed China for showing lack of transparency in sharing information during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said: "I think China knows that in the early stages of COVID, it didn’t do what it needed to do, which was to in real time give access to international experts, in real time to share information, in real time to provide real transparency."

"And one result of that failure is that the virus got out of hand faster and with I think much more egregious results than it might otherwise."

The US and China have exchanged barbs over numerous issues in recent times including COVID-19.

"As we’re dealing with COVID-19, we also have to put in place a stronger global health security system to make sure that this doesn’t happen again or, if it does happen again, we’re able to mitigate it, to get ahead of it.

"And that means making a real commitment to transparency, to information sharing, to access for experts.  It means strengthening the World Health Organization and reforming it so it can do that.  And China has to play a part in that," the US leader said.

(IBNS)