Blinken Calls for an Interference-Free Investigation Into the COVID-19 Origin, Backing WHO’s Proposal

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at New Delhi Palam Airport to depart for Kuwait from New Delhi on July 28, 2021. Jonathan Ernst / POOL / AFP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 28, backing the latter’s proposal to further investigate the origin of the pandemic, which was believed to have originated in China.

“Secretary Blinken affirmed U.S. support for the WHO’s plans to conduct additional studies into the COVID-19 origins, including in the People’s Republic of China,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement issued later yesterday.

According to his release, the top U.S. diplomat called for a “timely, evidence-based, transparent, expert-led, and free from interference” second-phase investigation, so as to better understand the current situation of the global pandemic and prepare for the future.

Two weeks ago, the public health agency proposed to audit laboratories and wet markets in central Chinese city Wuhan, where the pandemic is thought to have broken out in 2020, as a second phase of investigations.

It comes after the WHO failed to secure transparency and information sharing from the Chinese regime, through a four-week study in and around the central city of Wuhan with Chinese researchers.

Yet the second-phase plan was pushed back by Beijing, claiming the proposal “did not respect common sense and violated science.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded on July 22 that Washington is “deeply disappointed,” calling the position both irresponsible and dangerous.

Blinken emphasized on Wednesday the significance of a joint force from the globe on the international public health crisis.

The earliest documented patient in Wuhan can be traced back to early December 2019. Yet Chinese authorities did not implement the first emergency precautions, until Jan. 23, 2020, when Wuhan imposed a lockdown.

In less than two months, the outbreak was declared a global pandemic.

Australia became the first country to publicly hail global support in April 2020, for an independent and comprehensive investigation into China’s handling of the initial outbreak.