The West should stop politicizing COVID-19 origins

COVID-19 is still spreading around the world, linked to more aggressive variants with a resurgence in countries that seemed to have almost eradicated it. This is clear evidence of the familiar saying that "no-one is safe until everyone is safe". Control of the virus requires global cooperation in widespread vaccination programs, maintaining sensible hygiene measures and strong border controls against new variants.

China has been among the leading countries contributing vaccines to the world with over 600 million doses of Chinese vaccines offered to more than 200 countries across the globe. China also has promptly reacted to local virus outbreaks and successfully limited fatalities for its citizens. Yet the US, supported by some western countries, is politicizing investigations into the origin of the virus.

President Biden has ordered a 90-day investigation by US intelligence agencies into the origins of the virus, including the possibility of a leak from a lab in Wuhan. This is despite the WHO report from earlier this year concluding that it was extremely unlikely that the virus originated in that way and the US CDC head, Dr Fauci, and other scientists stating that they still believe the virus most likely occurred in nature and jumped from animals to humans.

Ultimately, it will be important to identify the origin to help understand the virus better and to learn how such occurrences can be prevented, but it is likely to be a long process. Smallpox was eradicated by a global vaccination program without scientists ever determining its origin. Until definitive results can be found, it is better to apply an open mind to a range of possibilities that go beyond China.

There is a case for investigating other labs, such as Fort Detrick in the United States. According to media reports, Fort Detrick has a history of storing many deadly viruses like Ebola and anthrax but information is highly secretive and no public investigation has been carried out.

Muhammad Asif Noor, director of the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies, has said that what the US and western countries did to China recently about COVID-19 origin tracing is a deadly and harmful political virus. Other observers have suggested that such an approach is counter-productive, as it could understandably reduce cooperation in this important project.

There is certainly an element of hypocrisy in the behavior of the US administration. Former President Trump dismantled his predecessor's pandemic response planning and in turn was slow to respond to the spread of the virus in the USA, stating it was like a flu that would go away. Despite the efforts of the current administration, the US has experienced over 600,000 deaths from the virus and keeping that number from rising should be the immediate focus.

A number of western countries also can be criticized for their slow initial response, despite clear evidence from China of how dangerous the virus could be and what actions needed to be taken. Such governments also need to focus on current priorities rather than put resources into investigating the handling of the pandemic. In the UK, there will be an official enquiry into the processes and policies but the government has insisted that now is not the time to consume much-needed resources on such a review.

Equally, we have seen the unfortunate rapid spread of the Delta variant in and from India, which has caused a high number of deaths there and has been met with much understanding and assistance from the global community. We are all in this together and blame games are not helpful. However, some Western nations want to treat China differently.

The same countries also are hostile to China based on allegations related to human rights, security issues and trade concerns, and it is hard to separate actions related to COVID-19 origins from other measures to slow China's development. The irony is China's response to the pandemic has enabled a strong economic performance, which has assisted global economic recovery. The West needs to work with and not against China.

Colin Speakman is an economist and an international educator with CAPA: The Global Education Network.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

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