US still politicizing virus origin tracing: China Daily editorial

The ongoing push by the United States to get the World Health Organization to conduct further investigations into the origin of the novel coronavirus, including conducting another probe in China is nothing but an act to politicize a scientific issue aimed at stigmatizing China.

A WHO team has already completed a field study in Wuhan — where cluster infections were first reported. In February, the team of international experts, after weeks of visiting hospitals, laboratories and markets, and with the full cooperation of their Chinese counterparts, concluded that it was "extremely unlikely" the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, thus discrediting the claims being made by some in the US.

But since the findings did not provide the fodder they sought for their smear campaign against China, some US politicians have refused to accept the fact. Because of their ineptitude in dealing with the pandemic, and their culpability in the failure to effectively control the virus — which has already led to more than 34 million infection cases and 600,000 deaths in the country, they need a scapegoat. China, therefore, bears the blame.

US President Joe Biden recently instructed US intelligence agencies to "redouble" their efforts to find information about how the pandemic broke out. And although he might appear more tactful than his predecessor Donald Trump, who called the coronavirus "the Chinese virus", his intention is the same.

It is a no-brainer. It is scientists who should be tasked with tracing the origin of the outbreak, not intelligence officers.

China has contributed a great deal to the global fight against COVID-19, not only sharing the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus as soon as it was determined, but also conducting international cooperation in prevention and control efforts and the supply of vaccines and essential medical equipment. All this has won praise worldwide. It is revealing of Washington's character that it should initiate an investigation that is designed to frame China, declaring it guilty of all charges no matter how unfounded they are.

As a responsible member of the international community, China has been willing to participate in any full, transparent and evidence-based research into the origin of the virus. But it resolutely opposes attempts to replace scientific research with intelligence investigations targeting specific countries. At the same time, having transparently cooperated with the field studies already conducted by the WHO in China, it wonders why the US refuses to do the same.