The accusation is that China had produced the virus in a Wu Han lab which then infected some workers and later entered the wider population. This included the local bat and other mammals market has never really left the world’s discussion table. The concerns are that the Chinese were developing some sort of a virus for whatever reasons- the West fears to develop biological weaponry- and it went out of control.
The result is the pandemic that has cost the world millions of lives in health and economics. It’s a very serious charge but also an inevitable development because in every way, the world is in a state of high conflict. It may see less of conventional weaponry used but the facts of violence are for all to see.
The issue of the source of the corona virus is now dominating the world media market particularly the West as it’s a part of the wider conflict around trade, sea space control and security of borders. The concern is not that such a virus could escape but that it’s an ill-intentioned Chinese motive that led to the global crisis. To that is added the additional concern about Chinese competence. If China is dabbling in virus warfare, does it have the ability to handle it without causing global pandemics?
Had the concerns been about health and there had been a concern about it, it would be different but it has become a China vs the West issue and its blaming that is on the top of the list. China has meanwhile denied it totally as expected and it has become a mudslinging match.
WHO in fact had intervened a couple of months before and a lab investigation team was sent to Wu Han who concluded that the chances of the virus being produced there was remote. However, many Western scientists and politicians rejected this finding as “inconclusive” and this is the latest bout of conflict. What seems more real than the virus threat is who produced it.
While we are not yet sure which did or if it’s natural in nature, there is no doubt that the US-China conflict is in full swing and will take on many dimensions. Today there is a virus, yesterday it was control of Taiwan waters and tomorrow will be another. It’s a reality that won’t go away
The smaller countries are not in any way part of this conflict and have very little to do with it. Apart from being victims of the virus and the conflict including the big economic ones, they are often largely by-standers. Whether this will change or not, one is not sure. Even the need to be free of domination requires a host of positive conditions. One just hopes they survive.
But the bottom line is clear. The virus origin debate is not about health concerns, about the welfare of people and scientific research but a reflection of conflict between a rising and declining power about global domination.
