What has US done with bat coronavirus in Ukraine? World deserves explanation

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on June 8, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday announced that US-funded biological labs in Ukraine were conducting experiments with bat coronavirus samples.

There is no smoke without fire. Some netizens commented that the Americans seem to have a special preference for making vampire-themed movies, and the prototype of the vampire comes from bat. The Americans' experiments with bat coronavirus have cultural origins.

Discussions about US bio labs in Ukraine are turning heated. Earlier, the Kremlin revealed evidence that the US was involved in biological weapons research in Ukrainian labs. It also said that Ukraine had destroyed samples of various pathogens. On Tuesday, Victoria Nuland, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs of the US, told a congressional hearing that Ukraine has biological research facilities and that "we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of the Russian forces."

Nonetheless, the US backtracked soon. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki released eight continuous tweets, which not only accused Russia of making false claims about US biological weapons labs in Ukraine, but also blamed China of endorsing this propaganda. US media outlet Bloomberg ran an article titled "China Pushes Conspiracy Theory About US Labs in Ukraine."

The accusation against China came after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged the US "to give a full account of its biological military activities at home and abroad and subject itself to multilateral verification."

The seemingly contradictory statements from different US officials only made the US' denial of its bio labs in Ukraine dubious. Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times that during the US' foreign policymaking process, it is common that different departments hold different narratives, and such difference enables people to know the truth of the lie the US is trying to hide. The more the US contradicts itself, the more reasons the world has to question it.

US officials and media accused China of pushing conspiracy, but it is the US that is the No.1 player of conspiracy. In 2020, the Trump administration and conservative US media made the conspiracy theory of COVID-19 escaping from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology. The hype of the lab leak theory has been an integral part of the US' overall China containment strategy. With the revelation that US-funded biological labs in Ukraine were conducting experiments with bat coronavirus samples, the US owes the world an explanation.

Regarding US bio labs across the world, many questions remain to be answered. The international community has no idea whether the US' 336 overseas bio labs and the labs on its soil such as Fort Detrick conform to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), while what is conducted inside these bio labs involves human security. Why has the US been standing alone in obstructing the establishment of a BWC verification mechanism and refusing verification of its biological facilities at home and abroad for the past two decades? Remember that the US is the only country left that owns chemical weapons in the world, and its destruction of these weapons has been delayed twice.

These have all led to a deeper concern from the international community. Labeling international concern simply as disinformation can only be seen as a way for the US to divert attention and shirk responsibility.

The US should clarify its bio experiments within and outside its borders, receive verification and destroy its stockpiled chemical weapons as soon as possible.