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U.S. suppression of WHO and scientists
Straight Talk
06:42

Editor's note: The WHO's proposal for a second phase of investigation into COVID-19's origins seems odd, since the organization concluded months ago that the "lab leak theory" was extremely unlikely. What is behind the WHO's sudden about-face on this matter?

The World Health Organization (WHO) wants to launch a second phase of COVID-19 investigation in China, including audits of the Wuhan lab. But this time, they want to come back to explore chances that the coronavirus leaked from the lab, something the U.S. government has been strongly advocating. 

China is surprised and confused by the WHO's apparent deviation from its previous conclusion just a few months ago.  In January, A WHO-led team spent four weeks in Wuhan and visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The team said in a joint report in March that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and a laboratory leak was extremely unlikely.

Last year, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom has always spoken highly of China's effective anti-epidemic measures and its assistance to other countries.

But his words did not sit well with then-President Donald Trump, who believed the WHO was defending the Chinese government. Trump then announced the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO. The U.S. stopped paying its dues, saying WHO fell short of carrying out U.S.-backed reforms. This brought tremendous pressure on the WHO, as the U.S. had been the biggest donor to this UN agency. 

Then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "enormous evidence" exists that the outbreak began in a laboratory in Wuhan, China. But until now, no any evidence has been presented.

In May, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to make a report on COVID-19's origins in 90 days.

In June, G7 leaders urged the WHO to launch a new investigation in China. Now, they succeeded. It's unclear how much pressure the WHO is under, but the WHO chief's abrupt about-face speaks volumes. 

This happened to other scientists too.

Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to the U.S. President and the leading scientific voice for the U.S. response to the pandemic, is under fire by Republicans. Dr. Fauci had dismissed the lab origin theory, saying the virus couldn't have been artificially manipulated. As a seasoned scientist, his words carry the weight of facts and long experience, but they still get him into trouble. Republican Senator Marsha Black, Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton keep calling on Dr. Fauci to resign, and Rubio bluntly said Dr. Fauci should look into plausible explanations of COVID-19's origins. So there was a lot of back-and-forth on what Dr. Fauci said about a lab leak.

He is not alone. 

Danielle Anderson, a foreign expert who worked in the Wuhan lab, said the lab had the strictest biosafety measures and no one at the Wuhan institute was infected. But for saying that, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, she faced threats of violence by extremist political forces. 

Dr. Angela Rasmussen, an American virologist who strongly opposes the lab leak theory, has also been subjected to online abuse, harassment and even physical threats. 

In June, Dominic Dwyer, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Sydney Medical School and a member of the WHO-led team which worked in Wuhan, wrote in the Guardian that the "lab leak theory" started out as a rumor, but in order to pander to politics, it has been deliberately spread and supported by some governments.

David Asher, a Hudson Institute fellow, explicitly said the U.S. should offer a reward to entice Chinese defectors to slander China. The interesting thing is that former U.S. State Secretary, Mike Pompeo is also a distinguished fellow in this think tank. Coincidence? Or maybe not? 

It is a must to trace COVID-19's origins for the benefit of the entire human race. But, the scope should be global, not just in China. A Singaporean political scientist, Kishore Mahbubani, pointed out "the U.S. should declare that it is willing to give WHO teams access to its facilities. In that way, the U.S. will set an example for others to follow." 

In fact, there have been studies showing the virus appeared in the world earlier than previously known. 

On November 27, 2019, the COVID-19 genetic material was detected in a wastewater sample collected in Brazil. On December 27, 2019, a throat swab sample from a French patient tested positive for the COVID-19 nucleic acid. From December 2019 to January 2020, 106 blood donations in nine U.S. states tested positive for COVID-19-linked antibodies. The spread of the coronavirus is so complex, it is unwise to make any presumption. 

Beijing said it had submitted its own proposal to the WHO for the second phase of origin studies, which should take place in "multiple countries and locations."

Despite pressure from the U.S., we can still hear sensible voices from the international community. On July 5, 24 well-respected medical experts once again published a joint statement in the authoritative medical journal, The Lancet, refuting the so-called "lab leak theory." At present, 55 countries have written to the WHO director-general to oppose the politicization of the epidemic investigation.  After all, science is science.  

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)

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