Tracking Down The Origin Of Wuhan Coronavirus, Part Two
In case the reader has not read my previous essay, the following commentary references a documentary produced by the Epoch Times and can be accessed through the following link:
Take Home Points And Analysis Of The Epoch Times Documentary:
>First, I should mention that when I posted the video documentary on my personal FaceBook page, a “warning message” popped up claiming that some of the information in the video may be “false or incomplete.” I posted a rebuttal in which I explained that I disagreed. In evaluating the documentary, I checked the credentials of every expert that was interviewed in the video and found them to be of the highest caliber. Further, each of the experts was associated with reputable and highly esteemed organizations, such as Walter Reed Hospital and the Hudson Institute in Washington DC, and the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. Furthermore, I cross checked several of the claims made in the documentary and found all of them to be credible. This includes one claim involving China’s attempt to patent remdesivir that I initially found hard to believe, but, upon investigation, turned out to be true, as I will describe below. So, although I would concede that some of the material in the video is controversial, I found that all of the material was adequately researched and corroborated. Accordingly, I stipulated that I disagreed with the “warning” and suggested that readers watch the video and decide for themselves.
>I should also report, that while investigating this topic, I encountered a significant number of references that displayed “Content No Longer Available”, “Text has been redacted,” and “Can not locate” messages, especially when seeking material that originated in China. It would appear that there is now extensive restriction of the flow of information on the topic. The only conclusion I can reach, therefore, is that such investigations must have “hit a nerve.”
>Next, I should point out that there is one area in which my conclusions differed from those in the video. Although it is impossible to know for certain, it seems to me to be unlikely that the Wuhan Institute Of Virology research began as a bioweapons endeavor, the possibility of which was referenced in the video. I say this because one the Institute’s directors, Dr. Shi Zhengli, PUBLISHED much of her work in scientific journals. In my mind, one thing you do NOT do when developing weapons is to publish ANYTHING.
>Now, I would concede that despite the caveat just mentioned above, it IS possible that Chinese military scientists were aware of Dr. Shi’s work and kept tabs on it. It is possible, further, that the military might have supported or funded Dr. Shi’s research for later use as a bioweapon, and may have done so whether or not she was aware of it. Dr. Shi, by the way, had worked extensively with the Centers For Disease Control in America on SARS-like viruses. This research was eventually shut down by the National Institute Of Health in 2014, because it was felt to be too dangerous. Dr. Shi was also the scietist who discovered that corona viruses enter human cells by binding to angiotensin receptors.
>The video reported that the US, Britain and India are suing China for economic damages due to COVID-19. It turns out there are now FORTY nations suing China for TRILLIONS of dollars (source: Ian Birrell, The Daily Mail, April 18, 2020, www.dailymail.co.uk). Regardless of whether these legal actions will or will not be successful, the implication of such actions is clear: many of the world’s countries are NOT fooled by China’s attempts at propaganda and misinformation, and are NOT buying their narrative on the origin of COVID-19 and its subsequent management.
>One of the most damning facts against China that was presented in the video involves the behavior of the Wuhan Institute Of Virology AFTER the pandemic exploded. IF the Wuhan Institute Of Virology is truly blameless, it SHOULD have been in the forefront of the scientific battle against the disease as it spread. After all, corona virus research (including SARS) was their unique specialty. They would have been the most knowledgeable about the disease and its containment. Yet, as shown in the video, as well as demonstrated in multiple media sources, the Wuhan lab, since the onset of the pandemic, has been “eerily quiet.”
>The video focused on the S Protein (or “Spike Protein”) which is essential to the virus’s ability to enter human cells. The fact that four protein sequences on the S protein (gp41) were found to be identical to the sequences found only in the HIV virus, almost certainly indicates that the virus, as we are currently seeing it, has been partially MAN MADE. (There is zero chance of natural intermingling of bat viruses and human HIV viruses because each is species specific).
>Above and beyond the considerations discussed in the above paragraph, we KNOW for CERTAIN that the Chinese successfully spliced the coding for an altered S protein into the corona virus. How do we know KNOW this?… We know it because they SAID SO! Dr. Shi and collaborators PUBLISHED their success in this regard in the prestigious scientific journal Nature on November 4, 2015. And, this milestone did not go unnoticed by the scientific community. Several leading virologists immediately sounded the alarm. One such scientist, Dr. Simon Wayne-Hobson, of the Institut Pasteur, clearly warned that should such a virus escape containment, its “trajectory could be unpredictable” and, by implication, unstoppable.
>Although not emphasized in this video, findings from other experts on a different aspect of COVID-19’s make up, dovetail with the S protein analysis given above. It is known that COVID-19 is EXTREMELY similar to the bat virus RaTG13, but the COVID-19 genome codes for FOUR amino acids that are NOT found in the bat virus. This is also highly suggestive of laboratory splicing. Although RNA viruses ARE more mutagenic than DNA viruses, according to Dr. Fang Chi-Tai of the National Taiwan University, mutations resulting in the coding for FOUR completely new amino acids in the span of a couple of years since RaTG13 was sequenced, would be EXTREMELY unlikely. In other words, S protein sequence data AND genome coding data BOTH argue AGAINST the possibility that COVID-19 occurred naturally, thereby raising the suspicion that it was made in a laboratory, possibly the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It would appear that all those experts that claimed they KNEW that COVID-19 wasn’t man made were, simply… WRONG.
>Although nothing in the video suggested that the virus was deliberately released by China, there is PLENTY of evidence that China was playing “fast and loose” with very dangerous “toys.”
>Furthermore, even though the release of the virus was almost certainly accidental, China’s response to the developing pandemic was very deliberate and deplorable.
>China’s attempts to suppress information on the virus are painfully obvious: The forced recantations of the first 8 whistleblowers, and the formal directives prohibiting the dissemination of ANY information about the virus to social media, scientific media, news organizations, or, basically, to ANYONE, are, in essence, tacit admissions of guilt.
>The video made a claim that, initially, I found hard to believe: having been given access to the antiviral drug remdesivir by Gilead Sciences, who had developed it as an anti Ebola treatment, the Chinese company, BrightGene, in conjunction with the Wuhan Institute, attempted to PATENT the drug themselves. This implausible claim turns out to be… TRUE! (Source: www.pmlive.com, March 25, 2020). BrightGene’s plans were eventual foiled when they were censured by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
>In retrospect, it appears that the business paradigm in which America relies exclusively on cheap medicines, medical goods and medical equipment from China, must be radically corrected. We can no longer allow our country to be dependent upon such a problematic source for these essentials.
>It also appears that the World Health Organization was complicit in the terrible way in which China handled the pandemic. The US had been the biggest source of funds for the organization (source: www.kff.org). It is obvious, at this point, that this must stop; funding of such an organization that is so completely in thrall to the Chinese Communist Party, must either be reduced or eliminated. An international health organization that does’t make international health their highest PRIORITY, does not serve a purpose.
>If you have enjoyed the video, I suggest you consider a subscription to Epoch Times. It includes both a print edition distributed weekly by mail and daily online access as well. After a 1 month trial (for $1) it costs $3.04/week, billed every 6 months ($79). It can be cancelled with refund at anytime. I have a subscription myself. You won’t be disappointed. Subscriptions can be initiated through the following link:
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