WHO experts to arrive in China on January 14 for virus origins probe

In this April 7, 2020, file photo, workers in protective suits walk past the Hankou railway station on the eve of its resuming outbound traffic in Wuhan

Credit: Ng Han Guan /AP

A World Health Organization team of international experts investigating the origins of the coronavirus will arrive in China on Thursday, more than a year since the first infections were detected in the central city of Wuhan. 

The long-awaited investigation hit a snag last week when Beijing delayed the arrival of the ten-member team, even though two of the experts were already en route. 

The Chinese foreign ministry cited a litany of reasons – dates had yet to be settled; visas needed to be arranged; health officials were busy dealing with a subsequent outbreak – chalking it up to a “misunderstanding.” 

The delay fueled existing concerns that China would seek to frustrate or whitewash the investigation given broader worries that the government sought to cover-up the pandemic when infections first began emerging in late 2019.

China’s national health commission has thus far only announced that the WHO team is expected to arrive on January 14 and has not provided details regarding their in-country itinerary or clarified what access the experts will have. 

A recent Chinese propaganda campaign – aimed at deflecting global public anger over China’s early missteps, which may have exacerbated global spread – has sought to reshape the narrative about when and where the pandemic began.

Wuhan — the 'Chicago of China'

Concerted efforts by Beijing to sow disinformation about the origins of coronavirus – all of which claim the pandemic was imported into China, rather than emerging in the country – have added to concerns of transparency. 

Chinese foreign ministry Wang Yi has claimed that many studies have found evidence that coronavirus emerged in multiple regions, saying that China was simply first to report it. Other officials have variously claimed that the US military brought infections to China. 

Beijing again on Monday emphasised its claims that the virus likely originated in many places. As "more early cases are identified, it is highly likely that the trace of origins will involve multiple countries and locations," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

The theory Chinese authorities have settled on lately is that the coronavirus came into the country via frozen food packaging.

In late 2019, whistleblower doctors in China that came across infections of a mystery coronavirus were reprimanded and warned to stay silent. Since then, thousands of people sharing information about the pandemic have been detained by police for alleged “rumour-mongering,” according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a coalition of rights groups. 

Authorities have continued to pressure people, such as medical staff and market vendors – especially at the Huanan Seafood market where initial infections were first found – to stay silent to ensure their accounts don’t contradict the official narrative. 

Authorities in China have also continued to silence citizen journalists, many of whom have disappeared, even as Beijing trumpets successful containment of Covid-19. One of them, Zhang Zhan, was sentenced last month to four years in prison for “picking quarrels,” a charge frequently used to silence dissidents.