Forgive my ignorance but even if it was lab created, so what? I don’t really understand why it matters or not. Didn’t the entire world basically have a nearly 3 month heads up on this either way?
US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
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Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's one article about the Who reversal: "The scientific community applauded President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the World Health Organization and other global efforts designed to stop and prevent COVID-19." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/01/22/scient...
HN is reflexive with downvotes. It's not personal. A response of "Trump did thing, Biden undid thing" after a comment of "US should do thing" can be interpreted as support of Trump and criticism of Biden. This is not a good thing to be true. Thus, it is downvoted.
you're right... I updated the post to remove the comment.
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#23Beside 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.
The WHO is not an organization with a military or the power to enforce anything. It’s completely at the mercy of the member states to pressure each other to allow it to do its job. The reality is that it was up to the member states to pressure China in early 2020 to release the information they should have shared. And as the only member state as large or larger than China, this was the US’s job. At the time, however,…
This is what Trump was saying February of last year instead of giving WHO the support that it needed to push China.
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/trump-praises-xi-for-han...
It’s precisely the vacuum created by the US’s voluntary defanging of itself in multilateral institutions that has allowed China to resist these institutions and even take control of some of them. The answer to that isn’t to continue unilaterally reducing its own power.
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#24If the CCP have nothing to hide then why do they do everything they possibly can to hide things from the rest of the world?
Politics. China is keen to not have the blame for COVID pinned on them. Accepting the blame makes Xi look weak and inept. It also opens up the door for countries to demand reparations. Meanwhile, every other country (especially the US) is eager to manufacture a narrative in which China eats the full blame for this because it absolves their politicians of responsibility for their complete mismanagement of the crisis. It sounds a lot better to say "we had a bioweapon unleashed against us and there was nothing we could do" than to say "this is just like the last 10 times we had a pandemic and we still botched our responses".
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#25This is worth a read: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9
We simply don't know the author's connection to the CCP. Why not share that publicly as to add credibility to their claims? Not the first time Nature was caught covering for the CCP: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/world/asia/china-springer... Why are all the criticisms of CCP downvoted and flagged on HN?
This is supposed to be a scientifically-literate forum. Ad hominem dismissal of good data/analysis because it could come from a source you've been taught to dislike isn't conducive to good discussion. If you're curious about the authors' links, they are in the article you didn't read.
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#26Related: 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?
Well, lets say they don't know, but there's a chance of a lab leak. Why take the chance when you can use FUD to confuse the world and remove the downside risk (which is very large).
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#27Beside 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.
What is withdrawal going to do? Why not work to get it right instead?
Conversely what good is it belonging to an organization which has no agency and does whatever it’s told to do?
Better form a new org that is apolitical and concerns itself with promulgating health and disease prevention rather than some political agenda?
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#28This is worth a read: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9
We simply don't know the author's connection to the CCP. Why not share that publicly as to add credibility to their claims? Not the first time Nature was caught covering for the CCP: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/world/asia/china-springer... Why are all the criticisms of CCP downvoted and flagged on HN?
Conspiracy theories regarding genetically engineered viruses don't do well here.
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#29The WHO is a useless organization. For political reasons, it will be necessary to engage, but hopefully US authorities will not treat it as an information source. The US should use its own primary sources in future to evaluate disease spread. China will lie to the WHO and the WHO will protect it. But to know the truth, we should use our modern equivalents of Key Hole. There is no truth but that which you have examine…
You mean primary sources like the program that had US scientists embedded in Chinese laboratories that Trump dismantled in 2019?
Also, you clearly don’t understand what the WHO does and how critical it has been in the reduction and even eradication of disease spread across the world over decades.
Further, the WHO, much like most multilateral organizations is dependent on its member states for strength. When the most powerful member state voluntarily and unilaterally chose to disengage over the past half decade, it shouldn’t be surprised that the 2nd most powerful member state is calling the shots.
Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins
#30The WHO is a useless organization. For political reasons, it will be necessary to engage, but hopefully US authorities will not treat it as an information source. The US should use its own primary sources in future to evaluate disease spread. China will lie to the WHO and the WHO will protect it. But to know the truth, we should use our modern equivalents of Key Hole. There is no truth but that which you have examine…
> China will lie to the WHO and the WHO will protect it. No idea why you are being downvoted for speaking the truth.
Thanks. Site guidelines discourage comments like yours but I was definitely rapidly getting downvoted till you said something. Interesting stuff.
I don't think anything I said about the WHO is particularly controversial considering the last year and their disinformation campaign.
Anyway, bodies like the WHO can't be effective information sources because you get in trouble if a novel contagious disease started in your country. It has to lead to increased money flow to the diseased site at disease onset and decreased money flow to sites likely to risk creating novel disease.
That is, market pandemic bonds structured on a regional basis will probably yield a better indicator than the WHO.