China is indignant that a group of scientists mandated by the World Health Organization (WHO) notes, in a new report, that a laboratory leak remains one of the hypotheses to be considered in an attempt to explain the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
The hypothesis in question “is a shameless lie invented by anti-Chinese forces” and “has nothing to do with science”, assured Friday Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry.
the GlobalTimesspokesperson for the regime, warned in an editorial that the WHO and members of the Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of New Pathogens (SAGO) should be wary of attempts at “political manipulation” emanating from the United States.
PHOTO LIU ZHENG, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson
Only assumptions, for the moment
In the preliminary report released Thursday, SAGO researchers said “fundamental data” was lacking at this stage to understand precisely how the pandemic began.
They note that more in-depth research is required in particular to try to identify, in the hypothesis of natural transmission to humans, by which animal SARS-CoV-2 could have been introduced into the Wuhan market, where the first cases of infection have been officially recorded.
They further recommend that further research be conducted on the laboratory leak hypothesis. The suspicions in this regard relate more specifically to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was conducting experiments on coronaviruses taken from bats.
The SAGO notes that it would be necessary in particular to be able to review the activities of the laboratory carried out on coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2 and the practices in terms of biosecurity.
The advisory group says it will “remain open to any scientific evidence that becomes available in the future so that it can assess any reasonable hypotheses” regarding the origin of the pandemic.
The United States wants to decide
The conclusions of the SAGO report diverge from those of an initial group of scientists commissioned by the WHO in 2021 who had described the hypothesis of a laboratory leak as “extremely unlikely” after a stay in China.
The work of this first WHO group had been criticized by the United States, which called for an investigation “without interference or undue influence”, targeting Beijing in veiled terms.
US President Joe Biden subsequently asked his country’s intelligence services to provide him with a detailed analysis of the question of the origins of the pandemic, which also failed to resolve the issue.
Additional research
Richard Ebright, a microbiologist from Rutgers University who criticized China for having blocked the first investigation to rule out the laboratory leak hypothesis, is delighted with the openness displayed by the SAGO.
The idea that it is not currently possible to conclude whether the passage of the virus to humans occurred naturally or whether it resulted from a laboratory leak “will draw the wrath” of all those who maintained that science shows that the first explanation is correct, he noted Friday in an email.
Although China is resistant to any additional research on its territory, the professor believes that answers could be found in the United States, in particular by digging into the archives of an organization which funded research on coronaviruses in Wuhan.
SAGO President Marietje Venter warned Thursday that suggesting further research into the lab leak hypothesis does not mean that researchers “think that is the explanation” to hold.
The “strongest clues” always point to the hypothesis of a natural transmission from animals to humans, she assured Agence France-Presse.
Maria Van Kerkhove, who is responsible for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic at the WHO, noted that there was “still a lot of work to do, in China and elsewhere”, to explain its origin.
Shanghai subjected to major screening
On the sidelines of these developments, the regime of President Xi Jinping continues to fight the virus on its territory by maintaining a “zero COVID-19” approach which is causing a stir.
The country’s economy has been particularly hard hit in recent months by severe lockdown measures imposed on the city of Shanghai, where most of the population has been confined to their homes for weeks.
On Thursday, local authorities caused consternation by announcing a new wave of screening tests which comes days after residents of the megalopolis celebrated the return to a “normal” life.
President Xi has indicated in state media that continuing to adhere “steadfastly” to the “zero COVID-19” policy to “consolidate the hard-won achievements” in the prevention and control of COVID-19. the pandemic.