Coronavirus: As US and China fight over origin of COVID-19, EU calls for independent probe

But for now, the "strident" political tone used by the US administration is not helping get to the bottom of what happened, former EU diplomat to China Charles Parton told Euronews. "It’s a bit like when (…) you start kicking someone in the shins on the one hand and then say ‘but we’d like your help’ on the other," Parton, also a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said in a live interview.