Editor's note: Timothy Kerswell is a research fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). He lived in Macao for seven years, working as an assistant professor at the University of Macao. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

The United States has been the source of numerous forms of misinformation about COVID-19. A major example was Donald Trump's infamous press conference with vague claims about injectable disinfectants. When President Joe Biden was elected, we heard that "America is Back ," and America's state machinery swung into gear trying to convince the world that the days of Trump's idiosyncrasies were over. But then, the Biden presidency revived the "lab leak theory," even though it went against the WHO's scientific consensus that animal-to-human transmission was the most probable cause of the pandemic.

But never let the truth get in the way of a good story. For those of us who watch the doings of the United States, this came as no surprise. Perhaps the optimists thought the U.S. would put science in charge and even consider the improbable. However, when the Biden administration put U.S. intelligence agencies in control of their investigation, the pattern became too difficult to ignore. This is not a scientific investigation. It's a political influence operation, part of the dark arts of United States foreign policy.

While feigning global moral leadership, the United States has always demonstrated a capacity to resort to the worst forms of political intrigue, especially when deflecting from its own political crises. Once upon a time these behaviors were conducted in the shadows, but now the world has grown accustomed to U.S. tricks, such as the "Axis of Evil" and "Weapons of Mass Destruction." Standing exposed, most people don't believe the United States anymore.

CGTN's think tank conducted a global opinion poll in six UN official languages, on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, VK, Weibo and WeChat, on July 30 of 81,600 people. The poll revealed a consensus that firstly, the recent U.S. calls for an investigation around the lab leak theory are politically motivated. For instance, 84 percent of French-speaking poll respondents on YouTube said the U.S. has politicized the issue on the origin of the coronavirus and on China's Weibo, over 85 percent of Chinese respondents thought the U.S. government's request is politically motivated, along with 92 percent of the Russian speaking respondents on VK.

In its single-minded pursuit of propagating the "lab leak theory" and connecting it to China, the United States has exposed the vanity with which it conducts itself in international affairs. U.S. political culture has an underlying narcissism based on American exceptionalism, the belief that it is a special country that gets to play by different rules. While the U.S. and a handful of its allies are happy to call for investigations into research facilities in other countries, they have never been open to such investigations on their own turfs. 

Some of the poll respondents had some great ideas as to why this might be the case.

"It's not an intelligence investigation, but political and failure deflection tactics," said one in English. A French-speaking respondent said "the reason the U.S. insists on the lab leak theory is nothing more than creating a diversion from its own domestic outbreak. The record-breaking number of deaths is why they want to divert attention, blame and demonize China for its own mistakes." The respondent added that "although China is not perfect, it's unlikely to have the ability to create such a virus."

As I write this, the now-famous Global Times poll received over 20 million signatures from internet users in China and abroad supporting a probe into Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina by the World Health Organization. If the WHO can come to China, why can't it go to the United States? Why is the world not entitled to an explanation why the Fort Detrick bio lab was suddenly closed by the U.S. Center for Disease Control? Why shouldn't the world be interested that 106 archived samples of routine blood donations in nine U.S. states tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies from December 2019 to January 2020? There may well be good explanations for these things, but it tells that every other country is accountable to the international community, except the United States.

CGTN's think tank poll revealed broad support for investigations into the United States to be part of the origin tracing of the coronavirus. 86.4 percent of poll respondents who answered in Russian, 88 percent of respondents in French and 96.5 percent of respondents in Chinese, for example, supported an investigation. With the United States typically occupying the position of lecturer to other countries on transparency and global citizenship, how will they behave when the tables are turned?

Our respondents weren't confident that the U.S. would demonstrate the transparency it expects from others, but would instead engage in more hypocrisy. One French-speaking respondent noted for instance, that "No doubt, there are secrets in Fort Detrick, but no country is tough enough to challenge it." While an English-speaking respondent noted a familiar pattern of the United States engaging in psychological projection, simply stating, "The ones who keep on accusing others have more things to hide."

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