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Explainer | Why US probe into coronavirus origins may make health cooperation with China difficult
- China has been opposed to the US investigation from the outset, alleging political manipulation and asserting the need for ‘science, not intelligence’
- Wuhan Institute of Virology versus Fort Detrick is just the beginning, as analyst sees the coronavirus becoming a persistent issue in US-China relations
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President Joe Biden in May tasked US intelligence agencies with reaching a “definitive conclusion” on the origins of the Covid-19 virus, including the possibility that it emerged from a lab accident, after a first American probe proved inconclusive.
While the findings of the 90-day US investigation have yet to be released, the process itself has already drawn the ire of Beijing, which is opposed to inquiries that aim to study whether the coronavirus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in the central Chinese city that reported the first major Covid-19 outbreak. This includes plans by the World Health Organization (WHO) to revisit the lab for a new investigation.
How has China reacted to the US investigation?
China is opposed to the US probe because it is being conducted by American intelligence agencies, not scientists from across the world working under the banner of the WHO.
“Origin-tracing needs science, not intelligence,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.
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Lu Xiang, a senior researcher on US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China is not opposed to an origin-tracking investigation, if similar investigations are conducted in other countries, especially the US.
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