Spotlight of suspicion falls on US: China Daily editorial

In their bid to present China in a bad light, politicians in the United States have been relentlessly hyping up the theory that the novel coronavirus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assumed the lead role recently, when in his meeting with World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Kuwait, he again pressured the world health body to conduct a second origin-tracing investigation in China, claiming that the world community should come together on this matter of critical concern.

True, origin-tracing is a critical matter that concerns all members of the international community, including China. But US politicians are trying to focus attention exclusively on China in a bid to foster the presumption of guilt. This is not only malicious, it is damaging to the essential scientific process of tracing the origin of the virus as well.

More and more reports have pointed to separate outbreaks in multiple places around the world in the latter half of 2019, and recent studies indicate that the US and other countries showed signs of the virus and infections before the outbreak in China.

Hence, it is only reasonable and logical that origin-tracing investigations should be conducted in those countries. Given the reports, it is clear that the US should be one of the priorities for an investigation.

At least five states in the US had COVID-19 infections before the first case was officially reported in the country. Not to mention that there are many questions surrounding the US military’s biological research laboratory at Fort Detrick, where there were documented safety lapses just prior to the first suspected cases in the country.

In June and July 2019, US media started to report issues involving Fort Detrick. By the end of July, two retirement communities near the lab suffered pneumonia outbreaks of unknown cause. In September, lung disease cases doubled in Maryland, where Fort Detrick is located, and were uniquely attributed to vaping.

Yet, despite facing mounting doubts, the US has bluntly refused to release critical information regarding the lab’s closure under the pretext of “national security”.

As such, by politicizing origin-tracing efforts the US seems to be trying to hide the skeleton in its own cupboard. Its politicizing of the pandemic and the scientific efforts to trace the origins of the virus only points the finger of suspicion at itself.

The international community should join hands in resisting the US political manipulation of the health crisis, as its attempts to deflect attention from itself will only hinder global joint efforts to combat the pandemic and jeopardize the well-being of people around the world.