12 | Monday, July 26, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY WORLD FM rails against COVID-19 ‘political virus’ US blaming others for failures harms means for the purpose of so-called ing the international fight against mission conducted earlier this year the WHO to express their opposi- origin-tracing, and keeps hyping the the pandemic, but has continued to concluded that transmission of the tion to politicizing efforts to find the research efforts, state councilor says “lab leak” theory, he said. use the platform to spread the politi- virus to humans through an inter- origins of the virus. Washington’s purpose is very cal virus, Wang said. mediate animal was the likely cause He reiterated that in terms of such By CAO DESHENG Wang made the remarks at a joint clear, Wang said: it wants to blame He reaffirmed that China cannot and that a laboratory leak was work countries should seek to work [email protected] news conference with Finland’s For- others for its inability to curb COV- accept the WHO’s plan for a second “extremely unlikely” to have been with one another instead of discred- eign Minister Pekka Haavisto in ID-19 while realizing its political phase of a study into the origin of the cause. iting others, and that there should State Councilor and Foreign Min- Chengdu on Sunday. purpose of smearing and suppress- the virus, saying such a plan has be truth instead of lies and respect ister Wang Yi has stressed the need The United States has, from the ing other countries. It is necessary shocked many scientists. Truth instead of lies for science rather than political to look into the origin of the “politi- very beginning, attempted to politi- to put such an “ugly page” into the It deviates from the resolution of If a work plan does not truly aim manipulation. cal virus” while tracing that of the cize the pandemic, stigmatize the historical record of humankind’s the 73rd session of the World Health to look into the origin of the virus, China is ready to uphold the spirit coronavirus that caused the COVID- virus and use origin tracing as a tool fight against the pandemic, he Assembly and neglects the conclu- but attempts to discredit China, the of openness, transparency, science 19 pandemic, reiterating that efforts to practice political manipulation, said. sions and proposals of the joint country, as an independent sover- and collaboration, and to continue to trace the origins of the coronavi- Wang said. It seems that since the US WHO-China investigation report, eign state will not, and cannot, to support and take part in virus ori- rus should not be politically manip- The US neglects scientists’ pains- returned to the World Health Orga- he said. accept it, Wang said, adding that gin tracing efforts worldwide, he ulated. taking efforts, resorts to intelligence nization it has not focused on join- A joint WHO-China investigation about 60 countries have written to said. Politicians told to stay Prompt aid out of pandemic debate By LIU YINMENG in Los Angeles debate over whether the coronavi- [email protected] rus was circulating in Europe before Chinese authorities reported the A former ambassador of Singa- first human cases in Wuhan in pore to the United Nations has December 2019, according to the called for the origin-tracing efforts Financial Times. of COVID-19 to expand beyond “If this is confirmed, this would China as the origins of the global explain the explosion of symptomat- health crisis remain contested by ic cases observed in Italy (in 2020),” experts. the paper quoted Giovanni Apolone, “The United States should declare one of the researchers, as saying. that it is willing to give World Health “SARS-CoV-2, or an earlier version, Organization teams access to its circulated silently, under the sur- facilities,” Kishore Mahbubani, a face.” distinguished fellow at the Asia Michael Melham, mayor of Belle- Research Institute of the National ville, a township in New Jersey, told University of Singapore, was quoted NorthJersey news site in April last by Global Times as saying. “In that year that he had tested positive for way the US will set an example for coronavirus antibodies and that he others to follow. believed he contracted the virus in “Recently, I watched an interview November 2019, more than a month with a Dutch member of the WHO before the first cases of the disease team that went to China. She said on were reported in China. the BBC that if the Biden adminis- An antibody testing study by the tration has new evidence on the ori- National Institutes of Health pub- gins of the virus, it should share that lished on July 15 confirms that the evidence.” coronavirus was quietly circulat- The hypothesis that the coronavi- ing in the US before the country’s rus originated in China and sugges- first publicized case was known in tions of a laboratory leak remain January. contested by experts. Researchers analyzed more than Many scientists say the virus is 24,000 stored blood samples from likely to have evolved and jumped participants across all 50 states from animals to humans naturally. between Jan 2 and March 18 last A joint WHO-China investigation year and detected antibodies earlier this year found transmission against SARS-CoV-2 infections of the virus to human through an from nine participants in Illinois, intermediate animal was the likely Massachusetts, Mississippi, Penn- cause and that a laboratory leak was sylvania and Wisconsin, from as Officials rescue stranded villagers from flooded areas following monsoon rains in Balinge village of Kolhapur district in Maharashtra “extremely unlikely”. early as Jan 7. state, India, on Sunday. The death toll from flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains in the country climbed to 127 on Sunday. After conducting a genetic analy- Since antibodies do not appear INDIAN NATIONAL DEFENCE RESPONSE FORCE VIA AFP sis of COVID-19 viral samples until about two weeks after a person pulled from a giant global data- has been infected, the results indi- base, researchers in Britain found cate that the participants with the that it would be impossible to find antibodies were exposed to the virus Locked down the first patient in any country, at least several weeks before their Bio-laboratory petition CNN reported. sample was taken, the NIH news “All these ideas about trying to release said. find a Patient Zero are pointless Mahbubani, the Singaporean website under cyberattack because there are so many patient scholar, argued that every country zeros,” CNN quoted Francois Bal- should agree to allow WHO teams to loux, a genetics researcher at Uni- visit and assess their facilities,so as By XU WEI versity College London Genetics to enhance the international organi- [email protected] Institute, as saying in May last zation’s credibility. year. “It’s not fair to say that China A petition website that Investigating Fort Balloux and colleagues took viral should allow access, and other coun- demands an investigation into the samples of more than 7,600 patients tries should not allow access. There- US biological laboratory at Fort Detrick is an appeal worldwide. Their findings support fore, the US should declare that it is Detrick, Maryland, was subject to of people all over the suspicions that the virus was infect- willing to allow WHO teams to two cyberattacks from US-based ing people in Europe, the US and access any facilities in the country. hackers on Saturday, a move its world, including the elsewhere weeks or even months In that way the US will set an exam- operator said exposed the fear Chinese people. It is before the first official cases were ple for others to follow.” from certain forces in the United a question that the reported in January and February Mahbubani counseled against States after seeing growing sup- last year. politicizing over debate the origins port for an inquiry. US must answer.” In a paper published on July 19, of the coronavirus and suggested In an online statement, the Police detain a protestor during a rally in Sydney on Saturday, as Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign thousands of people demonstrated against the city’s monthlong scientists at the Istituto Nazionale that it is dangerous for politicians to Global Times newspaper, which Ministry spokesman dei Tumori, a cancer research center become involved in science. launched the petition, said it COVID-19 lockdown. STEVEN SAPHORE / AFP in Milan, Italy, discovered traces of “The one good thing about sci- strongly condemned the cyberat- infection after retesting a small ence is that scientific evidence can- tack, and that it is the right of Chi- number of pre-pandemic blood not be tampered with by politicians. nese internet users to conduct a people had delivered a clear mes- samples. Therefore when it comes to scientif- petition. sage in signing the petition for the Briefly The samples, collected as early as ic evidence, we should let the scien- Its servers have withstood the investigation. October 2019 in Italy, have re-stoked tists deal with it.” attack, it said, and only minor He told a news briefing on damage was caused, even though Wednesday that the increasing BELGIUM government Yemeni forces and the more attacks could occur. endorsement reflects Chinese peo- Fresh floods hit amid Houthi militia in the country’s “We will be fully prepared and ple’s aspirations and their anger stormy weather northeastern province of Marib. Protection boost try to withstand the attacks to pro- over political manipulation by The Houthis carried out a number tect the petition and the right of some in the US.