How the National Security Advisor and the Times Keep Misleading the US Public

On Feb 13, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made a statement that the U.S. had “deep concerns” about how the World Health Organization experts communicated and obtained results from its investigation in China. The statement also requested that the expert group’s report should be “independent” and that findings must be “free of intervention or alteration by the Chinese government.” This is quite clearly an attempt by an American high official to cast doubt among the international community on the WHO’s report.

Tracing the origin of the COVID-19 virus is a serious and difficult job; it is hard science. However, the U.S. has been politicizing it from the beginning. It has presupposed that the virus originated in China, and has sought to spread that political stance. It is also doing all it can to push the WHO’s investigation of the origins of the virus so they can verify that viewpoint.

The WHO refused to cooperate, so previous U.S. president Donald Trump and his administration severed ties with the organization. After the Democratic government took office, they reestablished a relationship with the WHO and announced that they would once again move forward with a respect for science, but in reality, the new government seems to be trapped within the mentality and framework established by the Trump administration. They have continued to blame China, just as the Trump administration did, and also appear willing to continue slandering China about the pandemic and weakening its influence, as a political strategy. They have merely stopped shouting insults in the streets like Trump and returned to a restrained and gentlemanly speaking style, but the anti-science attitude is still there. It’s the same medicine with a different name.

With its national security advisor calling into question the WHO’s work on tracing the virus’s origins and labeling this work as an “investigation,” Washington is making almost no attempt to conceal its geopolitical intentions. Sullivan’s statement is misleading and instigating Americans to view the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of politics and international competition. Where is the science? It’s only brought up and used as lip service when needed.

A short while ago, The New York Times published a piece quoting several of these WHO experts, declaring that their investigation in China was obstructed, and that there was an intense dispute with the Chinese government. American researcher Peter Daszak and Danish researcher Thea Fischer each later angrily stated on Twitter that their words had been twisted, with Daszak responding “Shame on you” to the Times. This is how the United States’ political and media elites like Sullivan and The New York Times try to turn scientific disease research into political slander against China.

To be clear, Washington is doomed to lose this dirty publicity battle it started. China is actively cooperating with the WHO’s investigation of the virus’s origins, and now, as it has before, China is carrying out a highly effective fight against COVID-19. During this difficult winter, China once again successfully brought new case growth numbers across the country to zero, guaranteeing a rather auspicious Lunar New Year for everyone. In comparison, the U.S. still has nearly 100,000 new cases per day and a daily death rate in the thousands. China has continuously cooperated with the WHO while the U.S. has been hot and cold toward the organization, like a fever. The United States’ only goal in attacking China over the pandemic is to cover up its own shortcomings, and the whole world is catching on to that; they’re not fools.

The new U.S. government boasts that it is different from Trump, yet at the same time, it struggles to separate itself from the previous administration’s policies on China and COVID-19. This half-hearted and wavering approach will only trap them in contradictions and weaken their ability to make up clear and resolute policies. Science and reason are losing authority within American society, where desires often beat out facts. This is the most serious signal of the country’s decline.

China doesn’t need to worry about the United States’ endless pestering because when it does so, it means that the result is already decided.