Recently, tensions have been escalating between China and the US over the origins of Covid-19. The US Energy Department released an analysis indicating that the virus most likely spread due to a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In response, the US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, called on China to be more transparent and honest about the origin of the pandemic. This follows Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning’s warning to anyone pushing the lab leak theory to stop politicizing the origins tracing of the virus.
The Energy Department’s conclusion is significant because the agency oversees various US laboratories that carry out biological research. The FBI had already concluded in 2021 that the virus leaked from a lab, but the Energy Department reached the same conclusion with low confidence. However, four other agencies still favor the natural spillover theory that the virus jumped from animals at a nearby meat market. The CIA and another agency have not yet declared a definitive position.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology is less than 10 miles away from an animal slaughter market where the first series of human cases were clustered. Some experts have suggested that the virus may have escaped during an accident at the institute. Others have dismissed this scenario and say that there is indirect evidence pointing to the virus originating from animals at the Huanan Seafood Market.
Despite the ongoing debate, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated that further investigation is necessary. In 2021, China rejected a World Health Organization effort to hold a second phase of its investigation, though the group has denied abandoning its inquiry amid China’s obstacles. While the lab leak theory was initially dismissed as a conspiracy, a growing number of scientists have come around to the idea that the virus may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
»Tensions are escalating between China and US over origins of Covid-19«
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