By Yao Kun
Recently, the daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have surged to new highs again and again. Nevertheless, some U.S. politicians still are indulged in the pandemic stigmatization, virus labeling and origin-tracing politicization, by stigmatizing China deliberately and clamoring for a second-stage investigation to China by the WHO. The U.S. is practicing political manipulation in the excuse of origin-tracing and performing hegemony in the name of science, all of which have evolved into the “origin-tracing terrorism”which has seven sins.
The First Sin: Arrogance– being weak in pandemic response and disregard for its own national’s lives
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. and some west countries had not taken effective prevention measures in compliance with the WHO guideline, instead, they constantly publicized wrong information and directives on prevention measures such as face-mask, social distance, etc. From looking at other’s trouble with indifference to waiting for the so-called “herd immunity”, some politicians in the U.S. benumb the public with a series of lies and put their political private interests overriding the lives and health of the people, which led to the surging of the newly confirmed cases and death cases. It is reported by the U.S. media that, several congressmen told the public that the pandemic is preventable and containable, while on the other hand, sold off their stock in numbers before the stock market fell triggered by the pandemic through inside transactions so as to avoiding risks “in a perfect manner”.
With the recent spreading of the Delta variant, the pandemic rebounded in many countries, however, the U.S. remains embarrassing pacemaker with newly confirmed cases reaching to new high every day, the aggregate confirmed cases surpassing 35 million and the total confirmed cases and death cases topping the world.
An article in the Times journal pointed out that, the U.S., a country as whole, is turning to be callous to the tragedy, and the attitude of American people towards the pandemic also contains a worrisome undercurrent that is a kind of willingness to accept the large-scale death as an unavoidable part of daily life.
The Second Sin: Jealousy–unbalanced mentality, determined to smear and suppress China
The slanted remarks on China which had been continuously made by the U.S. reflect its deep anxiety over the loss of national credibility due to its poor response to the pandemic, and reveal its malicious intention to smear China for no reason.
Through arduous efforts, China was the first country in the world to contain the pandemic, resume work and production, and achieve steady economic recovery, demonstrating its strong institutional advantages and its responsibility as a major country that actively provides foreign assistance. Western countries, on the other hand, were indifferent at the beginning of the pandemic, underestimated the virulence and the spreading trend of the virus. Only when the pandemic spreaded in their own countries, did they suddenly wake up, but the window period for prevention and control has been missed. As a result, the situation became serious and even on the verge of getting out of control. Western elites are increasingly worried about what will happen to the west if countries that claim to be “freedom and democracy” are not well-governed.
In order to shift the public’s criticism of the country’s poor response to the pandemic, the U.S. politicians, together with the media and academics have been throwing out slanted theories to cover up their own inadequate response and divert attention. In the past, there were “conspiracy theories on the origin-tracing of the virus”, “China’s responsibility” and “sue China for compensation”. Later, the so-called “open letter” were published twice, distorting the scientific conclusions and reports of the WHO joint expert group.
On August 2, some members of the U.S. House of Representatives released an updated version of the so-called “report of the origin-tracing of COVID-19”, continuously pedaling the old cliche of the so-called “Chinese laboratory leak theory”. In essence, they are worried about China’s growing voice and influence in the world and its “lost leadership”. In order not to score points for China in the international cooperation against COVID-19, they intend to smear and blame China, so as to offset the leading role and moral effect of China in international cooperation against COVID-19. Allison, a well-known American scholar, directly pointed out that during the pandemic, the U.S. political elite targeted China in order to avoid taking responsibility for their failure in the fight against the pandemic.
The Third Sin: Deceit–Churning out “script of the origin-tracing” without regard to the fact
On May 26, U.S. President Joe Biden asked U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct an investigation of the COVID-19 virus and provide an explanation within 90 days.
The CIA’s history is well known. They used a small bottle of washing powder as evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and they directed and acted in the video of the so-called “chemical weapons attack in Syria” staged by the White Helmets, all of which were the “masterpiece” of U.S. Intelligence agencies. “We lied, we cheated, we stole, we had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment”, said by Mike Pompeo, the immediate passed U.S. Secretary of State who served as CIA director before. The real intention of the U.S. government to turn such a professional issue over to the intelligence agencies is nothing more than to return to its usual tactics of smearing China on Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other issues and to create a momentum to “hold China to account”.
The Fourth Sin: Concealing–Being Tight-lipped on Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick Biological Laboratory used to be a center engaged in biological weapons research programs in the U.S.. Public information shows that Fort Dedrick had an inseparable relationship with Unit 731 of the Japanese invaders to China during WWII.
After the World War II, the U.S. successively sent bacterial warfare experts from Fort Detrick to Japan in a few years to learn about Japan’s bacterial biological weapons from the main members of Unit 731, including the leader of Unit 731 Ishii Shiro. The U.S., on the condition of exempting the war criminals of members of the Unit 731 , has obtained data of Unit 731 about human experiments, bacterial experiments, bacterial warfare, and poisonous gas experiments to conduct biological weapons research. On the cover of the three human experiment reports of Unit 731, “Anthrax Experiment Report,””Miliformis Experiment Report,” and “Y. pestis Experiment Report”, it reads that “Research and Development of the Chemical Unit of the Biological Warfare Laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland; this file should be returned to the Archives Department of the Post-War Headquarters” and stamped with the black ink stamp of “Technical Library of Dugway Experimental Base”.
In the past, Fort Detrick has repeatedly caused huge crisises due to virus leaks. In the suspicion of the COVID-19 origin-tracing, it has once again attracted the attention of the world. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post reported that in August, 2019, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suddenly ordered the closure of Fort Detrick’s Biological Laboratory on the grounds of “inefficient wastewater purification systems.” Almost at the same time, “mysterious pneumonia” appeared in the surrounding area of Detrick. The ABC reported in July, 2019 that an outbreak of unexplained respiratory disease occurred in the “Green Spring” retiree community, which is only an hour’s drive from the Fort Detrick. The patient’s symptoms include “fever, cough, body aches, wheezing, hoarseness, hoarseness, and general weakness” and so on. Some patients have symptoms of pneumonia.
The public can’t help but ask, is there any secret inside the Fort Detrick? In July 2019, there was an unexplained respiratory disease in northern Virginia and a large-scale outbreak of “e-cigarette disease” in Wisconsin, is there any hidden fact?
The Fifth Sin: Violence–spreading political virus and inciting hate crimes
During the pandemic, some U.S. politicians spreaded the conspiracy theories of the origins of the virus, hyped the name of “China virus” and instigated the anti-foreign sentiments, resulting in a sharp increase in crime against Asian-Americans.
According to the data issued by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism of America, anti-Asian hate crimes in 16 largest cities increased 149% in 2020 in comparison to 2019, and anti-Asian hate crime reported to police in 16 largest cities and counties, rose 164% in the first quarter of 2021 in comparison to the first quarter of 2020.
The restoration of “White Supremacy” has been presented and its pace been increasing recently in U.S.. White nationalist groups have been witnessed a surge by nearly 50 percent annually and grown extreme and violent, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center of America. The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also warned that the “White Supremacy” has become a new “transnational threat” and thrived amid the pandemic.
The Sixth Sin: Intimidation–violating science and suppressing scientists with objective voices
In order to preaching their fabricated “Lab Leak” theory, the U.S. has been coercing, luring, and suppressing many of those scientists with professional spirit.
Some working staff and researchers of the WHO reveal that, as long as they showed their support to the WHO-China joint study report on the origin-tracing of COVID-19, pressure or even threats would be put on them by the U.S. side. The Australian virologist Anderson, who once worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology at the beginning of the pandemic, refuted the “Lab Leak” theory by her own experience. However, what she said only drew malicious abuse and threats to herself and she had to call the police for help. Lvov, a Russian virologist and expert at the WHO, also disclosed that staff at the organization has been facing mounting pressures, “the U.S. is trying to prevent virologists from telling the truth about the epidemic”.
The Seventh Sin: Separation–sticking to vaccine nationalism and undermining the global cooperation in fighting against the epidemic
As the largest developed country in the world and a major country that should have resumed important international responsibilities for cooperation in the field of global health and security, the U.S. government responses to the epidemic weakly and chaotically at home, and sabotages the global cooperation on fighting against the virus wantonly, which has not only incurred a heavy cost for the people of the U.S., but also posed an unprecedented threat to global health security.
At the beginning of the outbreak, the UN, WHO and other international organizations and agencies have been committed to global epidemic prevention and control as well as vaccine research and development. While moral and financial support was in great need, the U.S. not only cut off the financial support it should have undertaken, but also owed a huge number of arrears. When the medical relief materials were in short supply in many countries, the U.S. had repeatedly intercepted masks, ventilators and other materials ordered by other countries during international transportation. In April 2020, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency suddenly ordered 3M company to stop exporting 3M masks to the Canadian and Latin American markets, and the existing orders were temporarily cancelled.
At present, the U.S. and some of the developed countries sticking to the principle of their own country first in vaccine development and distribution, has intensified the trend of vaccine nationalism that who researches who uses it exclusively. In last March, the U.S. government locked in 800 million doses of Pfizer, Modena and Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the number of which is far more than its population 330 million, to achieve unsaturated supplies while a global vaccine distribution gap was widening.
All above 7 sins were committed by the U.S.. Using the origin tracing issue to practice “origin-tracing terrorism” is a serious betrayal to the spirit of science, a deliberate sabotage to global unity in the fight against the epidemic, and a challenge to the baseline of human conscience.
The dark manipulation on origin-tracing receives little support. Over 300 political parties, social organizations and think tanks from 100-plus countries and regions in the world submitted a Joint Statement to the WHO Secretariat, calling on the WHO to conduct the study on COVID-19 origin-tracing objectively and fairly, firmly opposing the politicization of origin-tracing, and opposing the hegemony performed by the U.S. in the name of science. So far, the online petition, launched by the Global Times on July 17th, demanding the WHO investigate the U.S.’s Fort Detrick lab on the origins of COVID-19 has gathered more than 25 million signatures. The entire world is waiting for an answer from the U.S..
(The author Yao Kun is deputy director of the Institute of World Politics at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.)
