Ample evidence to show Pompeo is lying

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ramped up his anti-China rhetoric on Sunday. Speaking on ABC's

This Week

program, the former CIA chief insisted that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). "I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan," the anti-China hawk asserted.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Pompeo has spared no effort in connecting the virus with China. But interestingly, while repeatedly labeling COVID-19 as "Wuhan virus," the senior American official provided none of his "enormous evidence" to back the claim. Instead, scientists found ample evidence against Pompeo's allegation.

Jonna Mazet, an epidemiologist at the University of California, listed four reasons on Business Insider to explain why a lab accident would be "extremely unlikely." To begin with, samples from the WIV don't match COVID-19, the epidemiologist who has worked with WIV researchers said.

It is true that Wuhan virologists have collected, sampled, and studied coronaviruses transmitting among Chinese bats. But research shows that the genetic information of these studied viruses does not match the genome of COVID-19.

In addition, stringent safety protocols eliminate the possibility of a possible leak. Samples collected from bats, according to Mazet, are separated between vials with "chemicals that deactivate the virus and other containers that leave the virus alive." All samples are frozen and disinfected before being studied. Wearing extreme personal protective equipment (PPE) is a must for WIV scientists. "Above reproach" is how Mazet described the WIV's safety issues.

Moreover, experts believe COVID-19 is more likely to have hopped from an animal to humans in a non-lab setting. Mazet quoted a study published earlier on

Nature

that COVID-19 is 96 percent identical in genetic code with a bat coronavirus. Zoonotic disease, as Mazet noted, is not uncommon in this century, of which SARS and Eloba are both typical examples.

Mozet further explained that compared with WIV's scientists in full PPE, people including hunters and poachers who rely on wild animals for trade are more exposed to zoonotic viruses. Thus, Pompeo's lab-leak theory "contradicted all available evidence" and "could impact future scientific cooperation and information-sharing" between the world's two largest economies.

Screenshot of the Business Insider article.

Apart from Mazet, French doctors have found evidence that COVID-19 may have already been circulating in Europe in December. That's weeks earlier than the country reported the first case who had a travel history to Wuhan. The doctors re-examined patients admitted to the hospital with flu-like symptoms from December 2 to January 26, and found a 42-year-old fishmonger COVID-19 positive.

The man, as the French team noted, had not been to China. "The absence of a link with China and the lack of recent travel suggest that the disease was already spreading among the French population at the end of December 2019," the doctors wrote in their study published in the

International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents

.

But Pompeo is turning a deaf ear to all the evidence. With death toll rising in the United States, the anti-China hawk intensified hostile rhetoric against China. Pompeo's allegations are aimed at distancing himself from domestic criticisms, Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, reportedly said.

"All statements about the laboratory origin of the virus are nothing more than speculation. All charges (against) Beijing aimed at removing the responsibility for the problems in the healthcare system of Western countries, in particular in the United States. The search for an external enemy for distraction – a very cynical and, unfortunately, the traditional reception for Washington and its satellites," Sputnik quoted Slutsky as saying.

It has been for several times that Pompeo played the blame game in times of crisis. While the world is anticipating the United States to play a leading role in the battle against the virus, American high-level officials are demonstrating their unrivaled skills in shirking their due responsibilities.

Scriptwriter: Liu Jianxi

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