BEIJING: Chinese experts from the WHO-China joint expert team were not notified about next week’s release of the full report on COVID-19 origins study before the release was announced by a WHO official, which was “quite surprising,” as such work should be conducted on the basis of direct communication between Chinese and foreign experts, a Chinese expert from the team told the Global Times.
During communications with foreign experts, the Chinese expert noticed palpable “political pressure” on the international experts, and therefore the Chinese side was concerned the final report may deviate from the previous consensus, the expert said.
“I was quite surprised by this announcement,” the Chinese expert on the WHO-China joint expert team, who preferred not to be named, told the Global Times.
Work on the report should be conducted on the basis of direct communication between Chinese and foreign experts, and yet Chinese experts had received no relevant information, the expert said. Instead, a WHO official went public with the announcement of the report’s release.
Since the WHO foreign experts arrived in China in January to study the COVID-19 origins, Chinese and international experts have established good work and personal relationships, with both sides cooperating smoothly toward positive results and a broad consensus, the Chinese expert said.
Time constraints prevented them from finishing the writing of a full report, but a consensus was reached on the report abstract’s major findings, conclusions and future work suggestions for joint study, all of which were unveiled at a joint press conference of the team on February 9.
The Chinese expert said that the two sides agreed that experts from China and WHO would continue to write the full text of the report based on the previous consensus, but a full draft report in English was not sent to China until March 17. The report has around 300 pages and has no Chinese version, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian revealed Friday. In communication with foreign experts, “we can feel that international experts are facing political pressure from some aspects,” the expert said. “So there seems to be a reason for the delayed report beyond scientific research.”
The Chinese side did not know “exactly who is putting pressure on the international experts,” he said. “It could be from several countries. We’re concerned that the final report may deviate from the previous consensus.”
Such a divergence would be greatly disrespectful to the efforts of the joint expert team as well as to the spirit of scientific endeavor, the expert said. It would also undermine global research on tracking virus origins, he said.
“Tracing virus origins is a matter of science, which should not and cannot be interfered with by politics,” the expert said.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
