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The | New Delhi |
Updated: May 8, 2020 1:43:08 pm
Chen Enting, 34, snaps a photo of his ticket to commemorate his first ferry trip across the Yangtze River in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, after a 76-day quarantine ended in the city at the center of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP)
As the coronavirus continues to take a heavy toll on the economy and human life around the world, the war of words between the United States. USA And China on the origin of the coronavirus shows no signs of decline. The last row threatens to change the relationship between the United States and China, already worn out due to the trade war, from bad to worse.
In recent weeks, United States President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have repeatedly claimed that the coronavirus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the capital city of Hubei province, Wuhan. . The outbreak was first detected last December here. The two leaders have argued that Beijing has refused to provide access to international scientists to learn what really happened.
China, on the other hand, has fiercely refuted all the allegations, saying it is a “smear” campaign whose main objective is to boost President Trump’s reelection chances in November this year. The Chinese government has faced significant criticism at home and abroad for its handling of the pandemic, especially during the first days of the outbreak. However, it has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
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So what is this conspiracy around Wuhan and how did it all start?
The Communist Party’s top disciplinary body said the police force in Wuhan had reversed its warning to Dr. Li Wenliang that it included a threat of arrest. (Screenshot)
It all started when a whistleblowing doctor in Wuhan, who first issued a warning that a group of viruses could spiral out of control, was punished in the middle of the night for his admission. Subsequently, the doctor, Li Wenliang, passed away in early February after contracting the same disease (coronavirus) that he had reported to his classmates in medical school.
Later, Wuhan City Central Hospital said on the Chinese social networking service Weibo that, unfortunately, Li was infected during the fight against the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic and that all efforts to save him failed. “We express our deep regret and condolences,” added the hospital.
But even before he died, the doctor had become something of a hero to many Chinese when he told the world about his treatment at the hands of the Chinese authorities. In January of this year, he was called by police officers and forced to sign a statement that refuted his warning call as an illegal rumor, according to The New York Times.
But in recent months, it has become a powerful icon for frustrated Chinese people who are angry that the virus has not been brought under control before exaggerating.
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Department of Homeland Security report accused China of concealment
Later, a report from the Department of Homeland Security stated that Beijing hid the severity of the world’s coronavirus and emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan. Following that claim, the United States has doubled its efforts to label Wuhan the origin of the new coronavirus, while China has opposed the smear campaign with an equally tough response. In recent days, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has intensified his attack on China saying there is “a significant amount of evidence” that Covid-19 left the Wuhan laboratory.
However, he briefly contradicted the conclusion of the United States intelligence agencies when speaking with ABC News that the virus was neither created by man nor genetically modified. When the interviewer pointed out that this was not the conclusion of the intelligence agencies, he backed off and said: “I have seen what the intelligence community has said. I have no reason to believe that they were wrong.”
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China Responded, Says Shows “Huge Evidence”
Wuhan: A medical worker from Jilin Province of China, dressed in red, hugs a colleague from Wuhan as she prepares to return home to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, on Wednesday 8 April 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week shutdown in the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands of people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to media reports. local. AP / PTI Photo (AP08-04-2020_000014B)
China asked Pompeo to show the “enormous evidence” it allegedly had on the Wuhan lab’s claim, claiming that this matter is best handled by scientists and not politicians, especially in an election year.
“He (Pompeo) said” huge evidence. “Then show us,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying at a press conference. “Pompeo cannot present any evidence because he has none,” Hua added. . “Should this matter be handled by scientists and professionals rather than politicians out of internal political necessity?”
The United States’ claim was supported by a report from the Department of Homeland
According to a four-page report from the Department of Homeland Security dated May 1, as obtained by The Associated Press, “Chinese leaders intentionally concealed the severity of the world’s pandemic in early January.” Interestingly, this rhetoric comes in the wake of critics of the Trump administration who say the government’s response to Covid-19 was slow and inadequate. This was forced on Trump’s political opponents to accuse him of hitting China in a concerted attempt to deflect criticism at home about the handling of the coronavirus.
On April 29, state television CGTN reported that American scientists are working with their Chinese counterparts to investigate the origin of the coronavirus, a major lawsuit by Trump and several other countries. (AP)
The report also adds that China stopped informing the World Health Organization (WHO) that the “coronavirus was contagious for much of January in order to order medical supplies from abroad and that its imports of face masks, surgical gowns and gloves increased dramatically. ” “
The report noted that “those conclusions are based on the 95 percent probability that China’s changes in imports and export behavior were not within the normal range.” China informed the WHO of the outbreak on December 31. The US Centers for Disease Control was contacted. USA On January 3 and publicly identified the pathogen as a new coronavirus on January 8.
Wuhan’s lab at the center of the US administration’s allegations USA
The state-run Wuhan Institute of Virology is at the heart of the Donald Trump administration’s claims that the pandemic originated from here. According to CNN, WIV is the only laboratory in China that has the highest level of biocontainment known as BSL-4. These labs are specifically designed to investigate some of the world’s deadliest pathogens, such as Covid-19.
WIV was established after the severe and fatal acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic that spread across Asia and China in 2002 and 2003. Subsequently, the devastation caused by SARS led China to build a BSL-4 laboratory as a way to prepare for future outbreaks
Wuhan document with “Covid Secrets” missing adds more mystery
In this photo released by the Xinhua News Agency, workers wearing protective suits check customers’ QR health codes at the entrance to a reopened shopping mall in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, the Monday, March 30, 2020. Merchants in the city of China’s virus outbreak center reopened on Monday, but customers were few after authorities raised more anti-virus checks that kept tens of millions of people in their homes for two months. (Fei Maohua / Xinhua via AP)
A leading Chinese virologist at the Wuhan Virology Institute (WIV), whose mysterious disappearance sparked speculation about the deadly new coronavirus emanating from the lab, has denied reports of her defection to the West with secrets about COVID-19.
Shi Zhengli, known as the “Bat Woman” for her passionate investigation into bats and the viruses associated with them, contested rumors of her defection on her WeChat account on Chinese social media, state media reported on Saturday.
Denying “rumors” of “defecting to the West”, Shi on his WeChat account wrote: “Everything is fine for me and my family, dear friends!” He also posted nine photos from his recent life, the Global Times reported.
In the post, Shi, who is reported to be the Director of the WIV, said: “No matter how difficult, (flawed) it will never happen. We have not done anything wrong. With a strong belief in science, we will see the day when the clouds scatter and the sun shines. “
Meanwhile, the WHO asks EE. USA That you share evidence on the supposed origin of the coronavirus
Following the large number of words between the two nations on the matter, the WHO emergency chief said he has received no evidence from the United States government to back up the allegations by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the alleged origin of the coronavirus from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. “From our perspective, this is still speculative,” Michael Ryan told reporters in Geneva.
“We have not received any specific data or evidence from the US government regarding the alleged origin of the virus.” Ryan said the WHO would be “very willing” to receive such information from the United States.
The United States and other countries have accused China of misleading the world about the severity of the outbreak, and there are increasing calls for an international investigation into the origins of the virus. However, there is no evidence to show that it emerged from Wuhan.
(With PTI tickets)
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