China-Coronavirus/Origin Tracing/Cartoon
Beijing, China - July 24, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Cartoon illustrated by China Global Television Network (CGTN)
FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of White House
3. U.S. national flag, Capitol building
FILE: Los Angeles, California, USA - Dec 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of ambulance in front of hospital
FILE: Chicago, Illinois, USA - Nov 18, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Medical workers putting on personal protective equipment
6. COVID-19 patient lying in bed
7. Hospital hallway
FILE: Chicago, USA - 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Medical staff at hospital
9. Medical worker checking patients
FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters; logo of WHO
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 14, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Various of WHO experts walking under guidance of people wearing protective uniforms
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Feb 9, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Various of Press Conference of WHO-China joint study on COVID-19 origin tracing in progress
FILE: Beijing, China- March 31, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
13. Screenshot of WHO website about COVID-19 origin tracing
14. Screenshot of WHO report about COVID-19 origin tracing
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Date Unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
15. Various of Wuhan Institute of Virology
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - March 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
16. Various of researchers working in lab
Beijing, China - July 23, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
17. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhao Lijian, spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
"COVID-19 origin-tracing is a major and complex scientific issue, and it requires the collaboration of scientists around the world, as well as joint efforts and cooperation of governments and people of all countries. Only by following the path of science and conducting science-based origins study with firm confidence, scientific attitude, scientific methodology and scientific facts, can we finally uncover the truth."
FILE: Milan, Italy - 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland/Iran/Russia)
18. Various of researchers at work
China Media Group (CMG) on Saturday published a cartoon, criticizing the United States for politicizing the issue of COVID-19 origin tracing while ignoring the principle of science.
The cartoon by China Global Television Network (CGTN) depicts Uncle Sam, the personification of the U.S., standing in front of an eye chart to have his vision screened. The eye chart is titled "COVID-19 origin tracing". The first line of the chart has the word "Science" with a very big font. However, Uncle Sam says he can only read the last line which has the words "Political agenda" written in a much smaller font.
As the COVID-19 pandemic is still taking a heavy toll on the world, the last thing countries around the world should do is to politicize the search for the origins of the virus.
To do that, one needs to demonstrate openness and follow the guide of science and facts. Clearly, the United States is failing on both fronts.
As China is the world's first country to report confirmed cases, Beijing has already invited the World Health Organization (WHO) experts to come to China twice for the origin tracing. And the WHO experts have concluded in a report in March that the so-called "lab leak" theory is extremely unlikely, and recommended conducting further research around earlier cases globally.
Next, the origin tracing work should be conducted in the United States, the country that sees the most infections and deaths in the pandemic, and whose fight against the outbreak has a flurry of questions unanswered.
The most mysterious question is whether the closure of the biochemical research base at Fort Detrick, which stores the most deadly and infectious viruses in the world, including Ebola, smallpox and SARS, has any connections with the pandemic and when the first infection occurred in the United States.
Such queries did not come out of thin air. The Detrick lab abruptly closed in July 2019, amid some unexplained outbreaks of respiratory disease in some parts of the United States. And the latest evidence is showing that the earliest infections in the United States can date back to late December 2019.
If the United States actually believes it could be as open as China on the issue, it should answer those questions in front of the global community with science-based facts and open its door to the WHO.
However, the United States is turning a blind eye to those mounting global concerns.
What is more appalling is that in late May, the White House tasked the U.S. Intelligence Community with a mission to come to a "definitive conclusion" into virus origin within 90 days.
It is weird enough that the U.S. government is turning to its intelligence community for a scientific question, and gives so short a period of time for an utterly complicated research. What is the motive behind this highly politicized decision? Why the rush?
At a time when scientists should have a bigger say in the world's quest for the truth of the once-in-a-century pandemic, it is increasingly obvious that some U.S. scientists, like Anthony Fauci, have been facing a buildup of domestic pressure, even death threats, for speaking up for truth.
Over the past year and more, the United States has let the world down for its immense failure to play a leading role in the global war on the pandemic. On uncovering the secrets of the virus, the United States should immediately stop its efforts to politicize the virus origin tracing, and start to embrace openness, objectivity and professionalism.
"COVID-19 origin-tracing is a major and complex scientific issue, and it requires the collaboration of scientists around the world, as well as joint efforts and cooperation of governments and people of all countries. Only by following the path of science and conducting science-based origins study with firm confidence, scientific attitude, scientific methodology and scientific facts, can we finally uncover the truth," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a press conference on Friday.
China-Coronavirus/Origin Tracing/Cartoon
Dateline : July 24/23, 2021/File
Location : China
Duration : 2'17
Beijing, China - July 24, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Cartoon illustrated by China Global Television Network (CGTN)
FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of White House
3. U.S. national flag, Capitol building
FILE: Los Angeles, California, USA - Dec 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of ambulance in front of hospital
FILE: Chicago, Illinois, USA - Nov 18, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Medical workers putting on personal protective equipment
6. COVID-19 patient lying in bed
7. Hospital hallway
FILE: Chicago, USA - 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Medical staff at hospital
9. Medical worker checking patients
FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters; logo of WHO
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Jan 14, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Various of WHO experts walking under guidance of people wearing protective uniforms
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Feb 9, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Various of Press Conference of WHO-China joint study on COVID-19 origin tracing in progress
FILE: Beijing, China- March 31, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
13. Screenshot of WHO website about COVID-19 origin tracing
14. Screenshot of WHO report about COVID-19 origin tracing
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Date Unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
15. Various of Wuhan Institute of Virology
FILE: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - March 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
16. Various of researchers working in lab
Beijing, China - July 23, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
17. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhao Lijian, spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
"COVID-19 origin-tracing is a major and complex scientific issue, and it requires the collaboration of scientists around the world, as well as joint efforts and cooperation of governments and people of all countries. Only by following the path of science and conducting science-based origins study with firm confidence, scientific attitude, scientific methodology and scientific facts, can we finally uncover the truth."
FILE: Milan, Italy - 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland/Iran/Russia)
18. Various of researchers at work
China Media Group (CMG) on Saturday published a cartoon, criticizing the United States for politicizing the issue of COVID-19 origin tracing while ignoring the principle of science.
The cartoon by China Global Television Network (CGTN) depicts Uncle Sam, the personification of the U.S., standing in front of an eye chart to have his vision screened. The eye chart is titled "COVID-19 origin tracing". The first line of the chart has the word "Science" with a very big font. However, Uncle Sam says he can only read the last line which has the words "Political agenda" written in a much smaller font.
As the COVID-19 pandemic is still taking a heavy toll on the world, the last thing countries around the world should do is to politicize the search for the origins of the virus.
To do that, one needs to demonstrate openness and follow the guide of science and facts. Clearly, the United States is failing on both fronts.
As China is the world's first country to report confirmed cases, Beijing has already invited the World Health Organization (WHO) experts to come to China twice for the origin tracing. And the WHO experts have concluded in a report in March that the so-called "lab leak" theory is extremely unlikely, and recommended conducting further research around earlier cases globally.
Next, the origin tracing work should be conducted in the United States, the country that sees the most infections and deaths in the pandemic, and whose fight against the outbreak has a flurry of questions unanswered.
The most mysterious question is whether the closure of the biochemical research base at Fort Detrick, which stores the most deadly and infectious viruses in the world, including Ebola, smallpox and SARS, has any connections with the pandemic and when the first infection occurred in the United States.
Such queries did not come out of thin air. The Detrick lab abruptly closed in July 2019, amid some unexplained outbreaks of respiratory disease in some parts of the United States. And the latest evidence is showing that the earliest infections in the United States can date back to late December 2019.
If the United States actually believes it could be as open as China on the issue, it should answer those questions in front of the global community with science-based facts and open its door to the WHO.
However, the United States is turning a blind eye to those mounting global concerns.
What is more appalling is that in late May, the White House tasked the U.S. Intelligence Community with a mission to come to a "definitive conclusion" into virus origin within 90 days.
It is weird enough that the U.S. government is turning to its intelligence community for a scientific question, and gives so short a period of time for an utterly complicated research. What is the motive behind this highly politicized decision? Why the rush?
At a time when scientists should have a bigger say in the world's quest for the truth of the once-in-a-century pandemic, it is increasingly obvious that some U.S. scientists, like Anthony Fauci, have been facing a buildup of domestic pressure, even death threats, for speaking up for truth.
Over the past year and more, the United States has let the world down for its immense failure to play a leading role in the global war on the pandemic. On uncovering the secrets of the virus, the United States should immediately stop its efforts to politicize the virus origin tracing, and start to embrace openness, objectivity and professionalism.
"COVID-19 origin-tracing is a major and complex scientific issue, and it requires the collaboration of scientists around the world, as well as joint efforts and cooperation of governments and people of all countries. Only by following the path of science and conducting science-based origins study with firm confidence, scientific attitude, scientific methodology and scientific facts, can we finally uncover the truth," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a press conference on Friday.
ID : 8213440
Published : 2021-07-24 17:44
Last Modified : 2021-07-29 20:26:00
Source : China Central Television (CCTV)
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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