Photo: Xinhua

The conspiracy theory that COVID-19 began as a lab leak in Wuhan is again being placed under the spotlight of US mainstream media outlets. On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal published a report, "Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on COVID-19 Origin." The Washington Post has joined the hype, with articles such as "How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible" published on Tuesday. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top US expert in public health, said last year that there is no scientific evidence to back the theory that the coronavirus was made in a Chinese laboratory, and he doesn't "entertain" the theory that the virus was leaked from a laboratory. However, the expert changed his tone recently, noting he is "not convinced" COVID-19 developed naturally and, "I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China."

The "lab leak" hype is almost the same with the round of sensational spin last year, with no new content or evidence. Why is the US playing it up all over again? The reason lies in US incompetence in handling its own problems. While witnessing its sluggish economic recovery, intensifying social contradictions, and the increasingly exposed weakness in governance, the US needs a scapegoat.  

China has opened its door toward WHO expert groups, twice. The latest probe found that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely." But the fact does not matter to the US, only its own political motivations do. As long as the WHO's conclusion has little to do with blaming China, Washington won't accept it. Washington wants to send its own expert team with a presumption of guilt to prove that China is sinful. Clearly, China won't allow it. 

Internally, the US is confronting too many difficulties and too much pressure amid its virus management. This makes it feel the strong need to pin the blame on someone else. This will be a long-term reality China has to face. And Washington is also very skilled at manipulating public opinion. It often cites undisclosed documents and thus has the reason not to provide evidence. This is a convenient way to push simple and irresponsible conclusions.

The US has tasted the benefits of finding itself a scapegoat - some Americans do not blame the US government but blame China instead, and Washington gained some endorsement on the global stage. Therefore, the US is convinced the tactic works. It has only bad influence on the country's fight against coronavirus and domestic governance. Yet this is nothing for US politicians, who only care about their short-term interests. 

There is a considerable amount of anti-intellectual people in the US, who can be easily affected by political manipulations. They can be easily brainwashed to become anti-China. As a result, be it COVID-19 or China, the Americans' thinking and perception has been going around circles without any progress. 

It is no longer news that US mainstream media outlets are tools of American political propaganda. But now, even elite scientists like Dr. Fauci, a top expert in public health, are being kidnapped by politics. This is a dangerous tendency. In terms of COVID-19, Fauci had made some statements that contradicted former president Donald Trump. Because of these statements, he received death threats, and his daughters were harassed. Now that Fauci has overturned his previous statement on the enigma of COVID-19 origins, he is bowing to politics.

But once science is kidnapped by politics, the decision-making of a society will only become irrational. The US today is like China during the period of Cultural Revolution (1966-76), when all issues were highly politicized. This being the case, how can US society develop without the capability to come up with scientific decisions? This is a pressing problem for the US.

Against the backdrop of such a political environment, the US will keep hyping its conspiracy theories to pass the buck. Facts are the most convincing way to refute them. China can also promote investigation into origins of COVID-19 in the US with reasonable doubts. Why was the US biological lab at Fort Detrick suddenly closed in 2019? Why did a mysterious pneumonia, linked to vaping, break out in the US in the same year? We can also insist that the WHO group should visit the US for an investigation with Chinese scientists' participation.   

China used to be too passive. We can act in a more high-profile way in this regard. The US has an ugly record of biological warfare in its history, and China has every reason to doubt it.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter based on an interview with Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn