The incoming Trump administration may revive efforts to investigate China’s responsibility, with some of his cabinet picks challenging prevailing narratives about COVID-19.

By Brahma Chellaney | The Strategist

The Covid-19 pandemic killed an estimated 7.1 million people worldwide, causing global life expectancy to decline by 1.6 years between 2019 and 2021. It disrupted economies, destroyed livelihoods, and strained social cohesion in many countries. Yet no one has been held accountable for it. Will US President-elect Donald Trump change that?

Summary

Five years after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the origin of the virus remains unclear, with theories ranging from natural emergence in Wuhan’s wet markets to a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). China’s government initially concealed the severity of the outbreak and human-to-human transmission, allowing the virus to spread globally. Despite international calls for an independent inquiry, China has resisted, controlling the only joint study with the World Health Organization.

While former President Donald Trump highlighted China’s role in the pandemic, his successor, Joe Biden, aimed to reduce anti-Asian sentiment by avoiding discussions of the origins of the virus. This has led to a partisan divide, with some U.S. agencies supporting the lab-leak theory and others challenging it. The incoming Trump administration may revive efforts to investigate China’s responsibility, with some of his cabinet picks, like Robert Kennedy Jr. and Jay Bhattacharya, questioning prevailing narratives about COVID-19.

An effective investigation will require transparency, particularly regarding U.S. funding of coronavirus research at the WIV, which has been conducting classified military research since 2017. The Trump administration should disclose the extent of this funding and the results of the research. Beyond holding China accountable, addressing dangerous gain-of-function research globally is crucial to prevent future pandemics.

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