It’s been three years and two administrations. The US government has been searching for answers about the coronavirus pandemic that took over the world in 2020, and has been frustrated with China’s efforts to hamper any investigations. No clear answers are here, and we may never get them; was it a natural transmission, or a lab leak? Government agencies are divided, and the CIA would not make an assessment with even a low level of confidence.
This week, intelligence agencies are expected to release declassified material on what they have learned about the pandemic’s origins. But people briefed on the material say there is no smoking gun that sways the intelligence community as a whole as to which theory was more likely.
Senior intelligence officials remain more convinced that the answers may never come. Local and national authorities in China, US officials say, destroyed and used some virus samples which might have helped answer the questions at hand. But those officials also caution against overstating the importance of such facts. Chinese officials, according to American intelligence assessments, are either convinced the virus was naturally transmitted or do not want to investigate the matter because could hurt their international reputation if it did come from a lab. In 2021, China sought to influence an investigation by the World Health Organization, angering the Biden administration.
In any case, the debate will likely rage on for years to come, with no end in sight.
