The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has released a new report and assessment that favors the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a lab. This report became public at the initiative of the new director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, who emphasized the importance of the agency’s active participation in the debate about the origins of the virus.
As writes According to The New York Times, the CIA has previously repeatedly said it does not have enough data to draw a definitive conclusion about the origin of the pandemic. The long debate revolved around two main hypotheses: whether the virus arose naturally in a market in Wuhan, or whether it leaked from one of the local high-security laboratories.
The new estimate is based on an analysis of conditions in laboratories in Wuhan province on the eve of the pandemic. John Ratcliffe, known for his support of the laboratory leak theory, called this investigation key to understanding the causes of the pandemic and building further relations with China.
“The CIA will no longer stand aside in discussions about the origins of the pandemic.” Ratcliffe said, emphasizing the need for thorough research.
The debate surrounding the origins of COVID-19 remains one of the most heated topics in political and scientific circles. Proponents of the natural origin theory focus on finding an animal that could have transmitted the virus to humans. Instead, proponents of the lab leak theory are looking for evidence that would point to possible manipulation of the virus in the Wuhan labs. However, despite intensive research, none of these theories currently have convincing evidence.
Even during his first administration, President Joe Biden initiated a review of data on the origin of the virus. However, Ratcliffe said, political considerations, including concerns about the impact on relations with China, have prevented him from openly supporting the laboratory origin theory in the past.
This new position of the CIA received support among American politicians. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton supported the agency’s assessment, saying, “The most important thing now is to hold China accountable for spreading this plague around the world.”
John Ratcliffe has pledged to make investigating the origins of COVID-19 a priority for the CIA. In the future, he plans to initiate more aggressive actions to obtain data from Chinese laboratories and government agencies, although he admits that this task remains difficult due to the high level of secrecy in China.
The question of the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be one of the key topics of international discussion and diplomatic controversy, while affecting relations between the United States and China.
