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Article

11 May 2020

Author:
WION (India)

India: WION claims to be targeted by China's Wondfo Biotech after reporting on faulty testing kits

“China's Wondfo Biotech targets WION after producing faulty testing kits”, 7 May 2020

...[Wondfo Biotech]...A company that supplied rapid antibody test kits to India . India found that the testing kits were faulty. So orders were cancelled and licenses were revoked. Wondfo Biotech also lost its import license for India…

… Wondfo biotech issued a statement. The company has singled out WION with our name and pictures and the press release was emailed by the Chinese embassy which is peculiar…The press release… begins with denial, followed by a long list of articles and links. These are international media reports about Wondfo Biotech. Almost all reports say that Wondfo's testing kits work but, the last page is different.It features a clip from Gravitas. A story from our broadcast on April 21 which was the day when the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had asked Indian states to stop using the Chinese test kit. WION had reported the story in detail with facts. Now Wondfo says we got it wrong…They mention one particular video clip. A file shot of coronavirus testing in India. Wondfo says the right procedure of blood collection wasn't followed by the medical worker…

Our story was how Chinese testing kits turned out to be faulty and we stand by it. On Gravitas, we have reported extensively on how different countries have complained about Chinese coronavirus supplies. India's story is no different. India reportedly procured five lakh rapid testing kits from two Chinese companies - Wondfo Biotech and Livzon Diagnostics. ICMR, the agency leading India's coronavirus response wanted to use these kits to check the trend but, they found that the kits are not working. In the state of Rajasthan, only 5.4 per cent of the results were accurate. In other words, more than 94 per cent were inaccurate.

Wondfo biotech says their kits worked in the United States and the United Kingdom. It didn't work in India, so, India stopped using Chinese testing kits…

Neither the Chinese companies nor the Chinese government has accepted India's assessment. The Chinese embassy in New Delhi issued a statement. It said labeling Chinese products "faulty" is unfair and irresponsible. China says this is preemptive prejudice...