Editor's note: Zhou Wenxing is a research fellow at Huazhi Institute for Global Governance, Nanjing University, and former Asia fellow at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an unclassified summary of the Intelligence Community assessment on coronavirus origins last week. As Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warned in May at the outset that the investigation into the virus origins might be "inconclusive," the origins report provides an uncertain conclusion that "the virus was not developed as a biological weapon" and "was not genetically engineered."

But what remains certain is that the report must have frustrated U.S. anti-China hawks who have long been calling for "holding China accountable." The plan to trace the virus origins was initiated by some hawkish figures during the presidency of Donald Trump, who had lost his edge since March 2020 in the re-election bid largely due to his mishandling of the pandemic.

Trump and his anti-China aides had hence spared no efforts to scapegoat China in the hope of distracting the attention of American voters and boasting about his capabilities of dealing with the virus. But Trump's plan did not bear fruit. Neither did Trump outcompete his rival Joe Biden in the presidential campaign, nor did his administration succeed in deterring China.

However, their efforts have inevitably caused some repercussions.

Firstly, they have worsened American public's perceptions of China. The results of latest polls by some polling companies, including Pew Research Center and Gallup, suggest that the American public's negative perceptions of China are at a record high, and one of the main reasons is the U.S. politicization of the investigation of the virus origins.

Secondly, these efforts helped in framing a consensus between Democrats and Republicans that being tough on China is politically correct, making it difficult for the Biden administration to improve U.S.-China relations in the short run.

Unexpectedly, the Biden administration even adopted more fiercely competitive and confrontational policy measures towards China in some areas than its predecessor, notably on the Taiwan issue and technological decoupling. These measures can to a large extent be viewed as the need for Biden to echo the political correctness in the U.S.

Biden has inherited from his predecessor unreasonable accusations against China concerning the virus origins. His order to launch the intelligence-driven probe into the virus origins 90 days ago is also mainly for domestic consumption. But the senseless probe has become one of the key reasons why China-U.S. ties are still faltering since the Democratic administration took office.

Since any further investigation is less likely to provide a definitive answer, the release of this report should be the suspension of U.S. government's attempts to "trace the origins," thus removing a controversial issue straining China-U.S. relations.

Admittedly, American hawks and anti-China forces are not expected to abandon their efforts to pressure China regarding the virus origins in the context that the two parties have agreed to advocate a tough policy toward China. It is indeed not easy for the Biden administration to reset U.S.-China relations as well.

But for Biden and his Democratic colleagues, putting a stop to this farce is conducive to focusing their limited energy to more crucial political issues on their agenda. How to evacuate American citizens, service members and the Afghan people who have worked for the U.S. from Kabul as soon as possible should be the first priority.

In view of stiff criticisms of Biden's handling of the chaotic U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, the Afghanistan issue has not only become more relevant to Biden's political reputation, but also to the Democratic Party's fate in the 2022 midterm elections and even the outcome of U.S. presidential election in 2024.

In this case, the release of the virus origins report has actually opened a critical albeit narrow window of opportunity for China-U.S. relations. The Biden administration should seize this opportunity to quit the origins tracing farce and resume official contacts with China as early as it can. From a long-term perspective, the Biden administration would benefit much more from a pragmatic and rational relationship with China.

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