On August 19, Ambassador Qi Zhenhong published a signed article titled “COVID-19 Origins-Tracing: Trust Science and Discard Politics”. Here is the full text:

COVID-19 origins-tracing is a matter of science, which plays a significant role in preventing and controlling the pandemic. Scientists from China, Sri Lanka and all over the world are intensifying their efforts on relevant research. However, the Biden Administration of the United States dictated its intelligence community in late May for a report on the origin of coronavirus within 90 days, they also openly claimed to press China for a so-called ‘full investigation’ on this matter. Such bald-faced political manipulation and “presumption of guilt” against a targeted nation, violates not only scientific common sense but also the international equity and justice, which deserves to be disdained and opposed by the whole international community.

Early this year, leading experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and China have already conducted a joint study in China on COVID-19 origins-tracing. During the 28-days-long study, the experts went wherever they want to go and met whoever they want to meet. An informative and authoritative joint study report was then officially released by the WHO, with key conclusions including "lab leak extremely unlikely" and serosurvey for early blood samples world-wide necessary. Based on that, the international studies are going deeper and broader. More and more countries, such as Italy, France, Brazil and the U.S. all have found samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 which had been collected earlier than the first reported cases in Wuhan, China. A preprint with The Lancet posted on 6 August, 2021 by researchers from University of Milan and Memorial University of Newfoundland finds evidence that COVID-19 “was circulating in Lombardy during the late summer of 2019” with SARS-CoV-2 positive samples collected in September 2019, long before the outbreak in China. All these scientific findings highlight the vital necessity of searching earlier cases and conducting origins-tracing in multiple and various places around the world.

Encouragingly, the United States’ political manipulation on the pretext of origins-tracing gets no support but widespread opposition by the international community. Recently, 76 countries including Sri Lanka have voiced opposition to politicizing origins-tracing and emphasized the importance of upholding the joint WHO-China study report, via sending letters to the WHO Director-General or issuing statements. In addition, more and more scientists, politicians, media professionals and organizations have echoed this position at various platforms. It’s worth mentioning that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed firm opposition to politicization and stigmatization of the COVID-19 pandemic in his two phone conversations with President Xi Jinping. Days ago, Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi reiterated Sri Lanka’s position on origins-tracing during our meeting. Both China and Sri Lanka agree that political manipulation on COVID-19 will do no good but hinder all countries’ efforts for early defeat of the pandemic.

The U.S. intelligence agencies have long enjoyed infamous reputation. Their credibility and ability oftentimes make people’s jaws drop. Mr. Mike Pompeo, former US Secretary of State and ex-director of the CIA, openly confessed that “we lied, we cheated, we stole”. In 2003, the U.S. hold a test tube of laundry powder as ‘evidence’ provided by its intelligence agencies for Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction and then sent troops to a sovereign country. This war has led to death of around 200,000 civilians and the ghost of conflict is still haunting there. It would not be a surprise that the CIA’s so-called origin-tracing report only turns out as “Covid Investigation Artifice”, nothing but another piece of wastepaper. Facts will prove the so-called report fabricated by the U.S. intelligence community is bound to be torn to pieces again, just like its credibility on the Afghanistan issue after Uncle Sam’s hasty and panic withdrawal from Kabul.

ENDS