The virus originated in China, either in a laboratory or at a wet market.
Either way, the fact remains the chinese government allowed people in Wuhan to take international flights out of Wuhan to the rest of the world, but strictly stopped any flights leaving from Wuhan to the rest of China.
Even if someone wanted to argue that the Chinese government simply didn't know how bad the virus was, the above fact completely squashes the argument.
Also, I'm not sure why you seem to be hell bent on supporting China - is it because they don't have white skin or english ancestors? If so, that's a really bad argument to run given China's human rights record which include incarcerating local muslims in 're-education camps'.