We seem to have forgotten but there were serious questions about the origins of the Covid 19 virus. When the pandemic first started, counties like Australia and 120 others demanded access to investigate, they were refused. Due to the apparent support the WHO was giving the Chinese in this regard, Donald Trump instructed the USA to leave the organization immediately. That has since been reversed.
Recently a joint team by the WHO and Chinese government went to the virus epicenter, Wuhan, to investigate the source and cause of the virus. It is important to note that the USA strongly claims that the virus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a bio lab that experimented with bat coronaviruses. The U.S. Department of State even went so far as claiming that the Chinese military has been working on secret animal experiences at the Lab since 2017.
A recent “joint WHO-China study” into the origins of the virus has conveniently determined that the origins of the virus are not likely from experimentation at the Wuhan lab. Jamie Metzl, a former NSC official in the Clinton administration and a member of a WHO advisory, appeared on 60 minutes where he essentially criticized the joint effort by the WHO and China.
I’m convinced Jamie Metzl will probably be the single most influential voice on this matter, if he isn’t already.
Not a fan of Donald Trump, nor his handling of the disaster, STILL ultra hawkish on the Wuhan lab. pic.twitter.com/IBMCDKPugS
— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@GPIngersoll) March 29, 2021
“I wouldn’t really call what’s happened now an investigation. It’s essentially a highly-chaperoned, highly-curated study tour,” Metzl said. “Everybody around the world is imagining this is some kind of full investigation. It’s not. This group of experts only saw what the Chinese government wanted them to see.”
“We would have to ask the question, ‘Well, why in Wuhan?’ To quote Humphrey Bogart, ‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, why Wuhan?’ What Wuhan does have is China’s level four virology institute, with probably the world’s largest collection of bat viruses, including bat coronaviruses,” Metzl continued.
“While they were there they didn’t demand access to the records and samples and key personnel,” Metzl said. “It was agreed first that China would have veto power over who even got to be on the mission. … On top of that, the WHO agreed that in most instances China would do the primary investigation. And then just share its findings with these international experts. So these international experts weren’t allowed to do their own primary investigation.”
The former Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger said; “There was a direct order from Beijing to destroy all viral samples and they didn’t volunteer to share the genetic sequences. There is a body of research that’s been taking place conducted by the Chinese military in collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has not been acknowledged by the Chinese government. We’ve seen the data. I’ve personally seen the data.”
A lack of transparency on the part of China has led to criticism of the World Health Organization for agreeing to China’s demands during their joint team inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 virus. https://t.co/WLc8xIhm03 pic.twitter.com/kUN8iE6uz3
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 28, 2021
Pottinger was asked about the Chinese military presence at the lab: “a major lead that needs to be pursued by the press, certainly by the World Health Organization.”
“Beijing is simply not interested in allowing us to find the answers to those very pertinent questions,” he said. “They were doing research specifically on coronaviruses that attach to the ACE2 receptors in human lungs just like the COVID-19 virus,” adding that that fact was “a pretty potent bullet point when you consider that the place where this pandemic emerged was a few kilometers away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
