A top Chinese official pushed a conspiracy theory on Thursday that blamed the U.S. Army for the coronavirus.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted about his suspicions, citing testimony from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield before House Oversight Committee.

Redfield said that some Americans who were thought to have died from influenza actually tested positive for COVID-19, another name for the coronavirus.

"CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals?" Zhao asked in his tweet.

"It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent!" he added.

"Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" he concluded.

The coronavirus first appeared in Wuhan, China, and has spread quickly to the rest of the world.

The bizarre accusation might have been an attempt to deflect accusations that the Chinese government covered up the extent of the disease in order to avoid responsibility for what has become a global pandemic.

Chinese officials have been reticent to admit the disease originated in China and are holding out for the possibility that it came from elsewhere.

"No conclusion has been reached yet on the origin of the virus," said Zhao in a recent media briefing. "What we are experiencing now is a global phenomenon with its source still undetermined."

Health experts, however, believe the virus jumped from animals to humans in China in early November 2019.

Here's more about the spread of COVID-19: