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Coronavirus

EDITORIAL | Japan Should Join Countries Demanding Probe into China’s Wuhan Lab

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The administration of United States President Donald Trump has been ramping up criticism against China’s Xi Jinping administration. Saying that Beijing is responsible for triggering the novel coronavirus pandemic, America is demanding access to do an on-the-spot investigation.

 

“This is really the worst attack we’ve ever had,” Trump said. “This is worse than Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center.” 

 

Recognizing that the worldwide spread of the coronavirus was caused primarily by the Xi regime’s information coverup, the U.S. President admitted it had dealt his country a blow greater than those of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the simultaneous terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. 

 

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The death toll in the U.S. due to the virus has topped 80,000 as of Thursday, May 14. Trump has suggested a U.S. response, including the possibility of imposing financial sanctions on China.

 

The U.S. media cited an internal intelligence report compiled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that the Xi administration had grasped the danger of virus infection by early January 2020, but intentionally withheld disclosure while it went about purchasing great quantities of medical supplies from overseas. If this is true, it amounts to a betrayal of the world.

 

In connection with the theory that the novel coronavirus was dispersed from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Wuhan Institute of the Virology, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milly have called on the Chinese government to accept the U.S. demand for an investigation in Wuhan to clarify what actually happened. At the same time, they refrained from asserting the Wuhan laboratory was the origin of the virus outbreak.

 

From the beginning of the outbreak, the Xi regime has declined all requests of foreign governments for conducting an investigation in Wuhan. In response to the U.S. demand this time, Beijing has taken the stance that it will never allow Washington to conduct an on-site probe, while vehemently denying the allegation that the outbreak originated in the Wuhan laboratory. China’s state media has continued to attack Pompeo, denouncing him as an “evil” politician for whom lying is second nature.

 

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The Xi administration claims that its handling of the virus outbreak was correct, proudly saying that it has made an invaluable contribution to the world by its handling of the virus. If that is true, then Beijing should gladly accept the demands of other countries to conduct an investigation in Wuhan, including its institute of virology. 

 

Many countries around the world have raised doubts about the Xi regime’s initial handling of the virus outbreak, and called for Beijing’s disclosure of information and to allow investigations in Wuhan, though they have refrained from pointing their fingers at the Wuhan laboratory.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron, referring to the spread of the coronavirus from China, said, “There are clearly things that have happened that we don’t know about.” Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab pointed out the need for questioning China on the virus outbreak and its handling of the epidemic. German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Beijing to ensure transparency, while the Australian government called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

One matter of concern in this regard is that the Japanese government’s presence is not visible.  

 

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Even if there is an inspection conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), which habitually leans toward favoring China, the results could not be trusted. The only option is for a coalition of willing countries with shared concern about China’s opaqueness to cooperate and press China to accept an international research team. The Japanese government should gather up its courage to join the coalition.

 

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun

 

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