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US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

reuters.com

221–230 of 664 posts

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The WHO has shown itself to be practically useless. The premise that sovereign nations need the WHO to cooperate is false. Diplomacy and cooperation between nations was the norm for many years prior to the WHO and will be the norm for many years after the WHO’s inevitable abandonment and demise.

Do you have a concrete example of public health cooperation amongst more than 2 nations before WWII? As far as I remember, every country just covered its metaphorical arse during the Spanish Flu pandemic, for example. Of course, cooperation is always possible, but what would be the extent of cooperation between say China, Russia, and the US if a new treaty were signed today?

Yea, the countries of Europe and North America collaborated in the earlier 20th century to wipe out cholera in those regions.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#222
post #17
post #4

Related: China refused to provide WHO team with raw data on early COVID cases, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-ch...

If the CCP is innocent why not prove it to the world by sharing their data? Why hide things?

Because there's no upside and guaranteed downside.

People are accusing them of building the virus in a lab with literally zero evidence. Give the US a bunch of raw data to spin and it just makes that easier.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#223
post #98
post #53

First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground". My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them. Which is exactly what thi…

> Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party Seems this holds true for every government and party.

It disingenuous and lazy to make broad statements of equivalence like this. There are very obvious differences in how the world’s governments operate.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#224
post #53

First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground". My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them. Which is exactly what thi…

I just assume the ccp default mode is to cover up, even when there is nothing to cover up. When legitimacy derives from competence rather than from election, you better never have any high profile incompetence.

You're being down-voted but this is exactly what my friends who live in China have told me. People were also downvoting big time back in March when I and others were saying that the numbers China was quoting were made the heck up. Suddenly the western media realizes that's true[1] yet we don't see a mass back-lash against China as a result...

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55481397

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#225
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party Seems this holds true for every government and party.

It disingenuous and lazy to make broad statements of equivalence like this. There are very obvious differences in how the world’s governments operate.

Oh yes? Shall we trust the US government in a good investigation on their motives to finance the bloody disaster that is the civil war in Syria? How about we send a Chinese delegation to check the documents inside the Pentagon or the CIA?

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#226

If anyone is tempted to associate 'lab leak' with xenophobia or anti-Chinese sentiment, please remember the WIV lab was in partnership with the U.S. NIH (National Institutes of Health). https://www.biospace.com/article/1nih-awards-ecohealth-allia...

Also noteworthy is Dr. Fauci has been a long time proponent and sponsor of gain of function experiments as head of the NIAID, the infectious diseases arm of the NIH.[1] After a few different US lab leaks involving anthrax, smallpox, and avian flu in 2014 the Obama administration put a ban on the fuding of gain of function research.[2] The ban was eventually overturned in 2018.[3] [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/op…

I'm assuming justification for GoF research wasn't "we want to make a bioweapon". What are the arguments in favor of this type of research?

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#227
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lab leak is not the only hypothesis the CCP may be seeking to avoid. What they knew and how early they knew it is at least as significant.

So the fact that China didn't cooperate should affect future health policy? edit- make China/cooperate more explicit.

Of course - if China knew more, earlier, wouldn’t you say knowing this should affect policy in future?

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#228
post #3

Beside the danger of adding function to an infectious virus, the biggest danger is the complete politicization of the virus. The WHO has changed their tune back and forth, often vehemently with little to back up its position. In that light the US should consider withdrawing completely from this body.

I agree. The more the US steps away from the world's stage the better for the US and the rest of the world

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#229
post #4

Related: China refused to provide WHO team with raw data on early COVID cases, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-ch...

But we did have data from cruise ships early in 2020 which showed that deaths were heavily age-specific, and that the death and hospitalization forecasts from organisations like Oxford were highly inaccurate. Yet for some reason the West seemed intent on pursuing lockdowns, demonising countries like Sweden and Belarus which didn't. Hospitals have never been overloaded (apart from places like New York where symptomati…

The economy boomed more with the president before that.

Look at raw gdp growth data and that was without major tax cuts. Nothing proves that the previous US president did anything more than "ride the wave".

Also, debts were greatly increased even before covid and the current president will have to fix that, again...

Additionally, lockdowns have an additional reason, namely to not overload healthcare so the situation doesn't get out of control. While rural areas can play denial, that's not an option for bigger and more dense areas/cities. A lot of hospitals were running on the edge, where >90% of capacity was for covid and delaying all other ( even urgent) surgeries.

Ps. Sweden has a very low population density. Not everything there applies elsewhere.

They even admitted they were wrong with having no lockdowns.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55347021

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