China, under pressure to allow Wuhan lab investigation, tries to pin pandemic on US
Sun May 30 00:43:05 2021 EDT
China is resisting pressure for an investigation into the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic emerged from a
virology lab in Wuhan, rejecting calls for an expanded investigation as âpolitical manipulationâ? by the
United States.
âFor some people in the U.S., what they say is 'facts,' but what is really on their mind is political
manipulation,â? Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters Wednesday. âThey are
obsessed with spreading âlab leak theoryâ and other conspiracy theories and disinformation.â?
Chinese officials have denied responsibility for the pandemic throughout the crisis, although Chinese General
Secretary Xi Jinping did acknowledge âobvious shortcomingsâ? to their initial response. Beijingâs censorship
of the Chinese doctors who first detected the public health threat stoked suspicions about the regimeâs
culpability for the crisis, which have been renewed in recent weeks as researchers and Western governments
have expressed dissatisfaction with the initial World Health Organization investigation and raised questions
about research projects at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
âWhile I do believe that a lab incident is the most likely origin of the pandemic, this is only a hypothesis,â?
Atlantic Council senior fellow Jamie Metzl, a former Bill Clinton administration official who is on the
WHOâs expert advisory committee on human genome editing, wrote this week. âWhen comparing the
evidence for each possibility, the case for a lab incident origin seems significantly stronger to me. Additional
evidence could always change that.â?
FAUCI NO LONGER CONFIDENT COVID-19 EMERGED NATURALLY
Chinese officials have renewed their suggestion that the U.S. Army might somehow be responsible for the
outbreak. U.S. officials have condemned the idea as "false, baseless, and unscientific claims" about the
pandemic's origin.
âIf the U.S. side truly demands a completely transparent investigation, it should follow China's lead to invite
the WHO experts to the U.S., open Fort Detrick and bio-labs overseas to the rest of the world, and disclose
the detailed data and information on the unexplained outbreaks of respiratory disease in northern Virginia in
July 2019 and the EVALI outbreak in Wisconsin,â? Zhao said.
Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeoâs team announced in January that U.S. officials had âreason to
believeâ? that Wuhan lab staff contracted a virus that produced âsymptoms consistent with both COVID-19
and common seasonal illnesses.â?
An initial World Health Organization investigation conducted under restrictions imposed by Chinese officials
declared any link to the local lab âextremely unlikely,â? but WHO leaders acknowledged a need for âfurther
investigationâ? of the hypothesis.
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âTheories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable,â? a group of researchers
wrote earlier this month in Science Magazine. âWe must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory
spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data. A proper investigation should be transparent, objective,
data-driven, inclusive of broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, and responsibly managed to
minimize the impact of conflicts of interest.â?
Photo Caption:Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, (L) attends a meeting
with Chinese President Xi jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, January 28, 2020.(
KYODO NEWS/Naohiko Hatta/Pool)
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