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Chinese state propaganda is pushing steamy “evidence” that the coronavirus epidemic did not actually start in one of Wuhan’s markets, which also offers animal products, but instead entered the country from abroad. Curiously, this possibility is not ruled out by the World Health Organization (WHO) either. In Washington, some are shaking their fists against Beijing and the WHO.
Chinese media have generated reports that it was not from China that the coronavirus has embarked on a journey to conquer the world, reports the Financial Times.
One by one, theories appear in the official press that “prove” that the pathogen came from outside the country and then caused an epidemic in the world for the first time. The articles were apparently not reproduced by chance before the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an investigation to clarify the origin of the Covid-19 epidemic.
The party’s official newspaper, Xenmin Zsipao, wrote in a Facebook post, citing Chinese experts, that “all available evidence” suggests that the epidemic did not start in Wuhan, China. This is followed by explanations from Chinese officials and researchers, raising questions about whether the coronavirus was first transmitted from animals to humans in a market that sells animal products in Wuhan.
Conspiracy theory
According to one theory, the virus reached Wuhan in shipments of frozen food, or in food or its packaging, and the local market in which it was sold played only a mediating role in the outbreak of the epidemic. Looking back at the first weeks of the epidemic, we can now recall that the first hot spot in the seafood market was the frozen products section, recalls Vu Cun-ju, chief virologist at the China Epidemiological Bureau. This suggests that the virus reached the Wuhan market in frozen seafood.
Regardless of this statement, Chinese experts are convinced that packaging poses a great threat to the spread of the virus. It turns out that the pathogen remains active for a long time even in a frosty environment. However, outside of China, the widespread opinion among experts is that the transport of frozen products plays a negligible role in the spread of the epidemic.
Horseshoe bat
Experts generally believe that the beautifully named Sars-Cov-2 virus originated in horseshoe bats. This was demonstrated by a strong genetic similarity between the pathogen found in these animals and that of humans. However, the big secret is where and how it reached people. Everything is confusing and unclear about this, says Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow at the New York Institute of Public Relations at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Although the Chinese government claims to be open to investigating the outbreak, the first group of WHO experts, which had to determine the direction of the investigation, was unable to enter Wuhan. This, of course, drew criticism from the Washington government. More interestingly, the WHO investigation plan is in line with China’s official position, namely that the real source of the epidemic should be sought outside the famous Wuhan market.
Relations between the United States and China are not beneficial to the systematic attempt by Beijing leaders to locate the origin of the pandemic outside of China. Donald Trump, the current US president, has repeatedly attacked the WHO by treating China with an overly gloved hand on the coronavirus epidemic. Huang fears that the new research will only further politicize the matter, making it difficult to obtain an independent, transparent and comprehensive investigation into the origins of the epidemic that everyone can accept.
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