China's foreign ministry says that it "firmly opposes all forms of political manipulation" on tracing the origin of the Covid-19 virus after German media reported that the country's foreign intelligence agency had concluded that the virus was accidentally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan. "We believe that tracing the origin of the Covid-19 virus is a scientific matter and should be determined by scientists. This issue should be approached with a scientific spirit," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning says. SOUNDBITES