zlacker

>>lazycr+(OP)
First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground".

My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them.

Which is exactly what this issue is about.

That's not to say we have compelling evidence that this was a lab virus, either. I think, for me, it's a, "we don't know, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if it was a lab virus".

>>ttz+rc
I was thinking if a virus was first spotted in New York City and it had a virus lab, would that be immediately blamed? It’s like all there is in Wuhan is a wet market and a virus research lab and they are located next to each other. I think that’s how the world perceives Wuhan.

>>msie+9f1
Why is this supposed to be important? It literally doesn't matter if a virus comes out of a lab, if you can find an equally dangerous virus in the nearest bat cave. Being able to blame someone would not solve your actual problems.

>>astran+fi1
What? Of course it matters. If it was accidentally released from a lab, those responsible should be held accountable so it’s less likely to happen again.

If it was intentionally released, it’s even more important to know by who and why.

>>rlt+Qi1
> What? Of course it matters. If it was accidentally released from a lab, those responsible should be held accountable so it’s less likely to happen again.

Because it doesn't matter if it's accidentally released from a lab, if you're going to catch it from a bat cave anyway. You haven't eliminated it from the world.

>>astran+Sj1
If it’s equally likely, I’ll gladly take half as many pandemics by eliminating one source of them.

>>rlt+xg2
It wouldn't be equally likely since the lab is a single source. It's normal for caves and pig farms and such to spread diseases like this - usually it's new kinds of flu but sometimes it's worse.

To me it seems like the lab escape story has only developed because of journalist brain. It's convenient if you'll only accept a narrative that involves blaming a human and not a natural system.

Anyway, the story doesn't seem to be developing in that direction:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/14/health/who-mission-china-intl...

I like how the WHO investigator calls the original patient "dull and normal".