The more we look into the origins of this novel Coronavirus strain, the more we seem to come back to the Wuhan laboratory in China, which has fueled the ongoing finger pointing at China and of course the anti-China propaganda.
But while it may turn out to be true that the virus did leak from the Wuhan lab, we must consider the outside interests in this controversial laboratory.
For example the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses only last year.
In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million.
Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release.[1]
Its also worth noting that the Laboratory itself was not single handedly created by the Chinese Government, this was a joint effort with the US Government:
In 2015, the WIV’s National Bio-safety Laboratory was completed at a cost of 300 million yuan ($44 million) in collaboration with the French government’s CIRI lab, and was the first biosafety level 4 (BSL–4) laboratory to be built in mainland China. The establishment of the laboratory was partially funded by the U.S. government and took over a decade to complete from its conception in 2003.[2]
Just how much other outside influences are responsible for the daily running and decision making processes within the lab itself is relatively unknown, but you can be sure that any incompetence and malpractice is not just in the hands of the Chinese.
