US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Photo: AFP

Editor's Note: 

Top scientists globally have already articulated there could be no way that the novel coronavirus was genetically engineered in a lab, certain top US officials have still pinned a laboratory in Wuhan as the center of a furious US blame game against China, claiming the virus originated there. How should people treat the hyped-up groundless allegations? Two observers shared their views with the Global Times.

Tarik Jašarević, spokesperson for the World Health Organization

All available evidence for COVID-19 suggests that the virus that causes it has a zoonotic source. Since there is usually limited close contact between humans and bats, it is more likely that transmission of the virus from bats to humans happened through another animal species, one that is more likely to be handled by humans. This intermediate animal host could be a domestic animal, a wild animal, or a domesticated wild animal and, as yet, has not been identified.

All available evidence to date suggests that the virus has a natural animal origin and is not a manipulated or constructed virus. Many researchers have been able to look at the genomic features of the virus and have found that evidence does not support that it is a laboratory construct.

Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Most scientists believe the virus was not man-made or genetically modified. Mike Ryan, the executive director of WHO's health emergencies program, said at a press conference on May 1 that "We [WHO] are assured that this virus is natural in origin."

Based on prior experience, if a virus leaks from a lab, researchers in the lab would be infected. Yet none of the researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have been infected, which proves the claim that COVID-19 was born in a Wuhan lab is absurd.

The place where the case was first reported is not necessarily the origin of the virus. According to media reports, there have been cases prior to those in Wuhan found in the US and Europe.

The mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, claimed that he contracted the coronavirus in November. Italian medical expert Giuseppe Remuzzi said the coronavirus may have spread beyond China before it was discovered. There are also studies showing "the disease was already spreading among the French population at the end of December 2019."

Therefore, it's still unknown where the novel coronavirus originated. It's a matter of science and it's up to scientists and professionals all over the world to work together to trace the origin and deal with the thorny challenge. At present we have very limited knowledge about the virus, so it will take quite a long time to identify the source.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that the US had "enormous evidence" to back the claim that COVID-19 originated in a Wuhan lab. But the US administration had not provided any evidence to the World Health Organization, said Michael Ryan. He stated that some top US politicians' remarks remain "speculative."

If US politicians insist the theory is legitimate, they should offer their evidence. Otherwise all they say has a political purpose and can only be counted as nonsense.

During an exclusive interview with a US media outlet, Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, dismissed the claim that coronavirus originated from a Wuhan lab. Fauci is a representative of the US scientific community. His statement opposing to certain US politicians suggests that the latter were making accusations for political purposes, which is no good for the world's response to the pandemic.

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University 

Trump and Pompeo are determined to scapegoat China despite a growing number of scientists worldwide refuting the lab release theory.

Apart from the attempt to divert the US public's attention on the country's severe epidemic and winning more votes in the upcoming presidential election, certain US politicians' groundless accusations are aimed at paving the way for reshaping the US international image. By repeatedly stigmatizing and attacking Beijing, Washington intends to weaken Beijing's international influence, so as to maintain Washington's unique and leading role in international affairs.

The US government hopes to mobilize its allies to launch a massive smear campaign against China in a bid to undermine China's global reputation. The Trump administration wants to impair the basis for China's rapid rise by means such as joint "compensation claims" with its allies.

Without sufficient evidence, US intelligence often makes mistakes. It once claimed that there were weapons of mass destruction in certain countries in the Middle East, but that evidence proved to be wrong in the end. 

Certain US politicians' absurd claims that the virus came from a Wuhan lab reflects anti-intellectual and anti-science attitudes in the US. Jeffrey Sachs, a world renowned economist at Columbia University, said, "The Republican party has been on an aggressive anti-science campaign for decades." 

The US is the worst-hit country by the COVID-19. But the current US administration does not believe they should rely on science for the epidemic's prevention and control. Those in the White House tend to believe as long as they have power in hand, their judgments will be accepted by the public eventually. This will clearly make global cooperation in battling the pandemic more difficult.  

Trump's anti-intellectualism will make his reelection prospect dim. If the pandemic cannot be effectively curbed before the election, he will lose support from the voters.

The Trump administration's anti-science measure will intensify US' contradictions with other countries; particularly when other countries collaborate in controlling the pandemic, the US will be isolated.

The US public will lose confidence over this country's future. Anti-intellectualism in the US will exacerbate the country's existing divisions between the two main parties, states and federal government, and different ethnic groups. Trump's "Make America great again" will be hard to deliver.