Probe Fort Detrick, USA too, China tells WHO

“THE shoe is now on the other foot” as more than 4.7 million Chinese (and the number is still growing) have sent an online petition to the World Health Organization (WHO) to also conduct an investigation in the United States for the possible country-source of COVID-19, particularly the notorious ‘Fort Detrick,’ the main center of US biological and chemical warfare program.

At a press conference in Beijing last July 21, 2021, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, has made it official that China wants the world body to play fair by also investigating Fort Detrick located in the state of Maryland, according to a report by Russia Today (RT).

Zhao said that the Chinese people had delivered a clear message in signing the petition, created by state-run news agency, The Global Times, calling for an WHO investigation into the Fort Detrick biolab.

“In less than five days, about five million people participated. The rising numbers represent the aspirations of the Chinese people and show their anger at some people in the US for political manipulation through the issue of traceability,” he stated.

The Chinese people decided to show their indignation after US President Joe Biden rejected the result of an official WHO inquiry in Wuhan, China that was concluded early this year and which rejected the ‘lab-leak theory’ first espoused by then Pres. Donald Trump.

The WHO panel of experts back then concluded that the most likely source of the virus is that it was transferred from animals to human (“zoonotic transmission”).

The US and the Western powers’ insistence on giving credence to their own version is despite mounting evidence that the virus is already present in other countries in Europe (like Spain and Italy) and more so, in the US mainland, months before China confirmed the presence of an “unknown virus” in late December 2019.

This was also despite independent testimonies of medical experts and scientists all over the world rejecting the US’ ‘lab-leak theory’ (see also Pinoy Exposé Issue No. 27).

Zhao noted that in early 2019, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued a “cease and desist order” to halt operations at Fort Detrick due to “safety concerns.”

Zhao also pointed to reports in the US mainstream media of an unknown respiratory disease that caused pneumonia in Virginia in summer 2019 (Maryland borders Virginia) and the decision to terminate some operations at the Maryland biolab was suspicious and worthy of a probe.

He also cited a large-scale outbreak of alleged “e-cigarette disease” in Wisconsin that same year.

Zhao also asked the US to reflect on its own role in the pandemic and not “dump” responsibility on China alone.

Citing the 33 million Covid-19 cases in the US and 600,000 deaths, Zhao asked “How safe is your conscience?”

“I also want to emphasize that the Fort Detrick base is full of suspicions. There are more than 200 biological laboratories in the United States spreading around the world. How many secrets are there,” Zhao asked further.

Referring to the US reports of respiratory illnesses in Virginia and Wisconsin, Zhao challenged the Biden administration to release “detailed data and information on relevant cases” to the world.

“The United States owes an explanation to the international community,” Zhao pointed out.

The World Socialist International, in a statement last May 28, 2021, described the US-led global campaign to pin China on the virus’ origin as “capitalism’s big lie.”

“The leaders of the capitalist governments have blood on their hands, and they are looking for a scapegoat: China,” WSI said, referring to the loose manner by which Western governments dealt with the virus in its early months, resulting to hundreds of millions of infections and millions in death in their respective countries.

The WSI further warned that the unrelenting demonization of China by the US and its allies is akin to the demonization suffered by Iraq over its non-existent ‘weapons of mass destruction” (WMD) prior to the start of Western armed aggression in 2003.

“The most direct precedent for the promotion of the Wuhan laboratory lie is the Bush administration’s fabricated claims that Iraq was hiding “weapons of mass destruction,” which served as the pretext for the invasion of Iraq. The method was exactly the same.

“Ambiguously worded findings from the US intelligence agencies, funneled through ‘anonymous sources’ by the media, together with openly perjured statements by administration officials, concocted a pretext for a war that has killed over a million people,” the WSI noted (see also Issue No. 21 and Issue No. 22 of Pinoy Exposé).