A US Congressional commission on the Covid-19 pandemic published its report this Monday, December 2, in which it considers that the escape of the virus from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, is the “most plausible” hypothesis to explain its origin. .
The question of the origin of the pandemic, between a possible transmission of the virus by an animal or a laboratory leak, has taken on a geopolitical turn in the United States for several years, in a context of growing rivalry with China.
Donald Trump, recently elected to the White House for the second time, has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the virus had leaked from a Chinese laboratory, which Beijing firmly denies.
Without resolving this issue, US intelligence assured in a June 2023 report that it had no evidence indicating that Covid-19 had been created in a laboratory in China.
“A biological characteristic not present in nature”
The subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic was created in February 2023, when Republicans regained the majority in the House of Representatives. After two years of investigation, 38 statements or interviews and 25 hearings, the commission delivered a report of more than 500 pages that will be officially published this Wednesday.
“This work will help the United States and the world predict, prepare for, protect against, and hopefully prevent, the next pandemic,” said Commission Chairman, Republican elected official and professional podiatrist, Brad Wenstrup.
The report boasts of a “consensus” between Democrats and Republicans on several issues, particularly the fact that “the possibility that Covid-19 arose from a lab- or research-related accident is not a theory of the conspiracy.” To support their claim, the elected representatives cited five reasons, including, according to them, the fact that “the virus has a biological characteristic that is not present in nature.”
“Political manipulation
Beijing dismissed the conclusions of this report, judging that it lacked “credibility” and accusing Washington of using the epidemic to carry out “political manipulation.”
“The authoritative scientific conclusion drawn by the China-WHO joint expert team… is that a laboratory leak is extremely unlikely,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said during a regular news conference.
“In the absence of substantial evidence, the so-called US report fabricated key conclusions, slandered China” and “introduced false evidence,” he said.
Almost five years after its appearance, the international scientific community has still not been able to determine with certainty the origin of Covid-19. However, a study published in September in the journal Cell provided new elements to reinforce the hypothesis of transmission to humans by infected animals introduced into a Wuhan market at the end of 2019. With more than 1.1 million deaths, the United States It has so far been the country most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: BFM TV
