MOSCOW -- A former United Nations expert has said that behind the US demand for a renewed probe into the origins of COVID-19 is Washington's attempt to curb competition with Beijing and divert attention from domestic issues through a disinformation campaign, according to the Sputnik news agency.

"The United States is losing the economic competition with China," said Alfred de Zayas, a former UN independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, cited by Sputnik on Tuesday. "If the US cannot win the 'economic war,' then at least it wants to win the 'information war.'"

By "playing the blame game," the United States is diverting attention from domestic challenges such as the country's own mismanagement of the pandemic, de Zayas said.

He added that in this scenario, China has every right to be suspicious of the "US-led independent investigation."

The United States is also strongly hampering the joint efforts aimed at solving issues that are truly urgent, such as direct solutions to the ongoing crisis by focusing on the virus's origins, noted the expert.

He said that if an independent investigation were to take place, it should consider all data including evidence showing the coronavirus was first detected in the United States, France and Italy before the outbreak in Wuhan, China.