A gruesome question always pops up in the mind as to why science is taking a backseat in coronavirus’ origin-tracing efforts. If in making of Covid-19 vaccines, all mandatory empirical standards are pursued, believing that scientific ingenuity from trial stages to production phase can make a difference and protect people from the onslaught of the pandemic, then how is political manoeuvring allowed to engender a ‘lab-leak’ misperception?
When science is to decide whether or not SARS-CoV-2 is a result of a “laboratory escape” scenario and zoonotic emergence, then on what grounds are other authorities at the helm of affairs in governance, defence and security qualified for the same task?
Frankly speaking this is all purely a sorry tale of global dominance. Once the US enjoyed supreme power status, being the sole master of world order. As time progressed, the White House saw China as its competitor, sensing that China has prowess to supersede it soon. Though China neither claims nor aspires to dethrone America, the US is haunted by the prospect of China and its ‘economic miracles’ with peace diplomacy, rule-based international law and equal-footed relations to all without any prejudice.
Festered with misgivings, the US administration has come out with a full-blown “malice and malign campaign” to demonise the Beijing administration. Frustration has so deepened that America has started abandoning its foothold in various countries in order to contain China before it is too late.
After the US drawdown from Afghanistan, the United States is ending its combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year. At a defence industry event, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen John Hyten said the drawdown in Iraq is necessary to ensure the military is prepared for a fight with China, if that day comes. However, there is also an opinion that conflict will not be as tense as witnessed in the Trump era. Contrary to Trump, Biden desires to use the Wuhan Lab origin-tracing phenomenon for political mileage.
It is already an open secret that even before Covid-19 breakout, the former Trump regime had triggered a trade war against China. Origin-tracing is just the tip of the iceberg. The roots of the US’ anti-China hostility are embedded since the birth of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The Bush Sr. Administration imposed sanctions as punishment on the Beijing leadership for defending Chinese sovereignty against foreign intervention at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
As part of a vilification drive against China for stealing US intellectual property rights, the United States Trade Representative prepared a report in 2017 which attempted to substantiate that Chinese theft of American intellectual property cost between $225 billion and $600 billion annually. Former President Trump, in August 2018, signed the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2019 and banned Huawei and ZTE equipment from being used by the US federal government, citing security concerns. In 2019, the United States Treasury designated China a currency manipulator. In an attempt to subvert China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalising efforts, US’ bill “The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020” was signed by ex-president Trump into law on June 17, 2020. Afflicting China’s internal affairs, The Hong Kong Autonomy Act was passed by the United States Congress. The US imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against several Chinese government officials on false allegations of a genocide against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang and human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Tibet. America also launched “The China Initiative” that also involved an aggressive outreach campaign, with federal prosecutors and FBI agents regularly meeting with academia and the private sector about the threat of Chinese espionage.
The above-mentioned points outline that origin-tracing moves are driven by an ulterior agenda lacking scientific research and evidence. Technically speaking, if we dig deeper to discern professional acumen and integrity, the US intelligence agencies stand exposed. Does it make sense that a US intelligence agency which has nothing to do with science and virology is qualified to do research and prepare a fact-finding report on the virus’ birth and spread?
Over many decades, on both its home ground to the international sphere, ranging from Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, the Arab Spring, the Syrian crisis and the recent Afghanistan mayhem, American national intelligence agencies have been losing steam for inept calculations and flawed assessment reports. Given the disrepute, their report on origin-tracing of Covid-19 is another fiasco.
The failure of the US intelligence system has many other glaring examples as well. One of them is the poor assessment on the rise of the Islamic State (IS), an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which sprang to life during the US occupation in Iraq. The US garrisoned and occupied Iraq for eight years, in which it had assumedly developed countless sources of information and recruited agents of all sorts. And yet, by all accounts, when IS’ militants suddenly swept across northern Iraq, the CIA in particular found itself high and dry.
So much so, on the basis of comprehensive information compiled by US intelligence community (IC), the Biden administration had been complacent about the fact that Afghan forces were capable of defending their territory and it could even take at least 3 weeks for the Taliban to reach Kabul. All assessments proved wrong.
Given the detailed evidence that substantiates the errors made in US intelligence judgments, a report on origin-tracing will only have questions of validity posed against it and enjoy a lack of public trust.