People's thinking on this topic is tied in pretzels. The origins of covid matter because they will help us prevent the next pandemic. Lab escape and direct zoonotic transfer have radically different implications for how we do that. This is a public health issue, not geopolitics
https://twitter.com/AliVelshi/status/1398701148333395968
China is an authoritarian surveillance state. They have ample relevant data to help determine the origins of covid, and can choose to share it or not. But our search for the answer should not be conditioned on their willingness to cooperate, or the consequences of making them mad
Chinese citizens, because they live under authoritarian rule, are unable to pressure their government from within for a candid investigation into the origins of covid. The only possible source of pressure comes from abroad, and we can't abrogate our duty to seek answers.
If it turns out this was an iatrogenic pandemic, then that also has immense global implications for how we study dangerous pathogens in the future. This is not a "blame China" issue but a basic question of risk.
Those who equate criticism of the Chinese government with sinophobia or racism are carrying water for a genocidal regime, and doing immense disservice to the very people they claim to be defending.
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