Continuity

In his Washington Post column Josh Rogin draws attention to the material concurrence of the Biden Administration with the facts in the “fact sheet” released by Mike Pompeo on January 15 on the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) laboratories:

After reviewing the Trump administration’s underlying evidence, none of which has been released publicly, the Biden State Department determined that some of the facts in the Jan. 15 statement are supported by either U.S. government information or public sources, a senior State Department official told me. But that doesn’t mean the Biden team is endorsing Trump’s or Pottinger’s assertion that the lab was probably involved.

“There wasn’t significant or meaningful disagreement regarding the information presented in the fact sheet,” the senior State Department official said. “No one is disputing the information, the fact that these data points exist, the fact that they are accurate. Where there was some discomfort was that [the Trump administration] put spin on the ball.”

The emphasis is mine. The “fact sheet” itself can be read here. In other words they’re accusing the Trump Administration of cherry-picking the information to make a case and, although they agree that the WIV might have been the source of the virus, they demur from concluding that was its source. That’s better than the WHO which wouldn’t even consider the possibility.

As is frequently the case for pundits in these discussions he closes by emphasizing that searching for the source of SARS-CoV-2 isn’t about assigning blame but is necessary to prepare for future pandemics:

The origin of the pandemic is not just about blame. If the source of the outbreak can’t be determined, its true path can’t be traced and crucial scientific information for preventing the next outbreak can’t be learned. The Biden administration is trying to take a neutral stance on the issue, even though the fact-finding process has become entangled in domestic politics, as well as U.S.-China relations.

“We certainly care a great deal about the origin of this virus, not only for reasons of accountability, but also for public health implications going forward,” the official said. “If we are going to prevent future outbreaks, epidemics or, God forbid, pandemics, we need to know how the last one started. . . . Whichever theory the facts bear out, that’s where we’ll go.”

I think there are a couple of other factors that should be entertained. Research at the WIV was being funded in part by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Institute of Health (NIH). The Chinese authorities have not lived up to their part of the bargain when we offered that funding which was that the CDC NIH was to share in any and all results. Plus if the WIV is participating in military research CDC NIH funding would be extremely problematic.

Not to mention that if the federal government could identify the WIV as the source of SARS-CoV-2 it would put wings on the lawsuits against Chinese SEOs or other companies with substantial control by the Chinese government which have either already been filed or I would expect to be filed.