Editor's note: Huo Zhengxin is a professor of law at the China University of Political Science and Law. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Under tremendous pressure from the U.S., WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in July 2021 that there had been a "premature push" to rule out the coronavirus lab leak theory. He proposed a second phase of the investigation into the origins of the pandemic to revisit the theory that COVID-19 had leaked from Wuhan's virology laboratory. 

Departing from his repeated appreciation of China's speed, transparency and cooperation with the WHO, Tedros said this time that he was asking China to be transparent and cooperative – to the surprise of the international community.

China firmly rejected the second phase origin tracing plan proposed by the WHO director-general, as it discounted the outcomes of the first-phase investigation conducted by its own experts and ran counter to common sense and science.

First of all, the origin tracing plan targeting a particular country defies science. The reason is self-evident: viral and infectious diseases know no borders and distinguish no races;  they may appear and break out in any country. The place where the pandemic first emerged does not necessarily mean that it is the origin of the pathogen. 

For example, though the calamitous 1918 influenza pandemic was commonly known as "Spanish flu," the first known case was reported at a military base in Kansas, the U.S. In the 1980s, the AIDS pandemic first swept across the U.S., but it was later scientifically confirmed that the HIV virus originated decades earlier in Equatorial Africa.

In the case of COVID-19, though Wuhan is where the pandemic first emerged, the latest evidence suggests that the virus occurred in the U.S. and Europe earlier than previously thought and before even the first cases in the city had been publicly identified. Therefore, the report of the first-phase investigation considered the possibility of missed circulation in other countries and suggested the need to "investigate these potential early events."

Second, targeting China in the name of an origin tracing study undermines the impartiality and integrity of the WHO and hinders global anti-pandemic cooperation. As noted above, being the first country to cooperate with the WHO to examine the coronavirus' origins, China invited an international team of experts, led by the WHO, to visit Wuhan to carry out the virus source tracing earlier this year. 

The mission determined that the lab leak theory was extremely unlikely and there was "no need for repetitive work." What's more, the second phase of the investigation ignores the report published by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR) established pursuant to the decision of the World Health Assembly.

In May 2020, the Assembly requested the WHO director-general to initiate an independent, impartial and comprehensive review of the international health response to the pandemic. One year later, the report titled "Making COVID-19 the last Pandemic" was published by the Independent Panel comprised of 13 renowned experts. 

Though the report did not make a finding on the origins of the virus, nor evaluate the performance of countries by naming them, the message that it sent was both clear and strong: "Across all countries with successful responses, timely triage and referral of suspected COVID-19 cases to ensure swift case identification and contact-tracing, and providing designated isolation facilities, either for all or for those unable to self-isolate … Countries with poorest results in addressing COVID-19 had uncoordinated approaches that devalued science, denied the potential impact of the pandemic, delayed comprehensive action, and allowed distrust to undermine efforts."

The report released by the joint WHO-China study group of the first-phase investigation and that by the Independent Panel are the most authoritative findings with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, which should not be ignored by any further origin tracing plan or activity. China's rejection of the proposal for the origin tracing investigation to revisit the lab leak theory, therefore, is justified and well-founded.

For the same reason, it is not surprising that the second-phase origin tracing plan, once published, has invited worldwide opposition. In addition to China's immediate rejection, about 55 countries have sent letters to Tedros opposing the politicization of the efforts to trace the origin of the COVID-19. 

In the letters, these countries called on the WHO secretariat to cooperate with member states, give full consideration to new scientific evidence and adopt suggestions made by the WHO-China joint report. They also expressed support for medical experts and researchers conducting virus origin tracing work in various countries across the world in order to gain experience for preventing the next possible pandemic.

The history of pandemics demonstrates that virus origin or source tracing is a scientific undertaking. The purpose of the origin tracing is to identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population so as to bolster the ability to fight pandemics. Stigmatization, political manipulation or ideological framing can do nothing but misdirect the origin tracing and undermine the global fight against the pandemic.

As of now, COVID-19 cases worldwide have surpassed 200 million, as the more infectious Delta variant spreads at an alarming speed. The global surge in cases is highlighting the widening gap in inoculation rates between wealthy and poor nations as well as the importance of international collaboration and global solidarity. 

Facing this unpreceded public health challenge, all countries should respect facts and science and work together in solidarity to stop the pandemic and its shattering consequences. If all countries unite, we can defeat COVID-19. Nevertheless, if certain nations continue to politicize the virus origin tracing and to lay the blame for the virus on others, no one can be the winner except the virus.

China's rejection of politicized origin tracing is both justified and well-founded (I)

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