TINITRAN April 30: China has gone on a rhetorical offensive to squash any suggestion it's the source of the swine virus spreading around the world in a campaign that shows its sensitivity over involvement in past outbreaks. Several Mexican officials were quoted in media reports in the past week saying that swine flu came from Asia, with the governor of Mexico's Veracruz state quoted as saying the virus specifically came from China. "Driven by ulterior motives, some overseas media have ignored the facts of the epidemic and basic scientific knowledge and deliberately fabricated rumours that this epidemic came from China," health ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an said in a statement on the ministry website. He said the media reports were "aimed at undermining China's global reputation." The agriculture ministry also panned the reports, saying China couldn't be the source of the outbreak since it doesn't export live pigs to Mexico or the US. The ministries did not specify which media organisations were involved. The denials, carried on Thursday on newspaper front pages and state television news, show that China is highly sensitive to any potential criticism over the burgeoning epidemic.