Chinese researchers have claimed that Greece could be one of the countries where the coronavirus originated. After targetting India as the prime suspect for the outbreak, Chinese scientists floated the idea that their evidence points to virus emerging in Bangladesh, the USA, Greece, Australia, India, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, or Serbia.

In a blatant effort to shift blame for the pandemic outside their borders, a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said the virus likely originated in India in summer 2019 – transmitting via animals through contaminated water – before travelling unnoticed to Wuhan, where it was first detected.

An expert from Glasgow University, David Robertson, dubbed the paper ‘very flawed’ and concluded ‘it adds nothing to our understanding of coronavirus’.

It is not the first time that Chinese authorities have pointed the finger of blame elsewhere – suggesting, largely without evidence, that both Italy and the US could be the site of the original infection.

The development comes amid rising political tensions between India and China, with troops attacking each-other along a disputed border. The US has repeatedly called the virus “Chinese” in the past.