The new CIA director has changed the authority's assessment of the Corona origin: the secret service now considers a laboratory accident more likely. China rejects the theory – and complains of defamation.
A new dispute between the United States and China has been sparked on the origin of the Coronavirus: As one of his first official acts, the new head of the U.S. secret service CIA, John Ratcliffe, had changed the authority's statement on the creation of the virus – to the displeasure of China.
Did the virus jump into humans by an animal – or by an accident in a Chinese laboratory? Before taking office, the CIA had represented the position that there was not enough information to assess this.
But now it says: “The CIA estimates with little trust that a research-related origin of the Covid-19 pandemic based on the available reports is more likely than a natural origin.” However, the CIA continues to consider the theory of natural origin of pandemic to be “plausible”.
Report in the USHouse of Representatives to Corona
Ratcliffe had already represented the “laboratory theory” in the past – and accused China of disguising the origin of the virus. At the beginning of December, the US House of Representatives also submitted a report in the sub-Committee that, after a two-year examination, assumes a more likely origin in the laboratory.
This was justified in the report with a laboratory in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan. The virus was first registered in the city. There is therefore a laboratory that researches coronaviruses – with inadequate safety precautions, as it is said. Researchers were already ill with covid-like symptoms in autumn, long before the virus was discovered on a Wuhan market.
China considers laboratory accident to be “extremely unlikely”
China criticized the new CIA position. The theory of a laboratory accident is “extremely unlikely,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. This finding is based on a joint examination of Chinese experts and experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), who also had “the affected laboratories in Wuhan”.
“This was largely recognized by the international community and the scientific community,” added the ministry spokeswoman. The US government must stop “to slander other countries and to blame them,” said Mao.
No clear knowledge of science
From a scientific point of view, the question of the origin of the pathogen cannot currently be clarified. A study published in September in the journal “Cell” had shown evidence that the pathogens came from wild animals that were traded on the market in Wuhan. However, the analyzed had not allowed clear conclusions to be drawn more than 800 rehearsals.
This is also due to the samples made available by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): They were only taken on the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan from January 2020, but according to experts in November 2019.
Drosts: “The more time flies, the more skeptical I get”
The virologist Christian Drosten from the Berlin Charité considers a natural origin of the pathogen “still likely”, as he said the “taz” in an interview at the weekend. However, proof of this could have been provided by China. “Chinese scientists have all the technical possibilities for this,” emphasized Drosten and added: “The more time flies, the more skeptical I get.”
In fact, at the end of December, the WHO had declared that China's full cooperation was still waiting to clarify the origin of Corona pandemic. “We continue to demand data and access so that we can understand the origins of Covid-19,” said the organization.
