Hu Xijin, a Chinese journalist and editor of the state-run Global Times is urging China to engage in a nuclear showdown with the United States just days after President Joe Biden asked his National Security Adviser and Intelligence Community to conduct an analysis on the origins of COVID, specifically the Wuhan lab leak theory, which gained traction in the last few weeks following newly surfaced reports about evidence coming to light.
The Wuhan lab leak theory is one of two main theories surrounding the origins of COVID. It was previously labeled by mainstream media as merely a conspiracy theory after it was heavily politicized during the Trump era. But now that more evidence has come to light to support the idea, both American and British intelligence are working towards investigating the possibility that COVID had in fact come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where studies on coronaviruses are conducted.
This did not sit well with China. According to The Blaze, Hu responded to President Biden's eagerness to launch an investigation into the Wuhan lab leak theory by saying that China must prepare for a "high-intensity showdown" with the Western country. The Chinese propagandist's message was published in Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform that is allowed to operate under the communist state's strict rules.
"Given the intensifying US strategic containment of China, I would like to remind once again that we have many urgent tasks, but one of the most important is to keep rapidly increasing the number of nuclear warheads and strategic missiles like the Dongfeng 41 with extremely long-range and high survival capabilities. This is the cornerstone of China's strategic resilience against the United States," a translation of part of the message from Hu provided by Chinese human rights activist Jennifer Zeng read.
"We must be prepared for a high-intensity showdown between the US and China, at which point a large number of DF-41 and JL-2 and JL-3 will be the backbone of our strategic will," Hu declared. "Our nuclear missiles must be so numerous that the US elite will tremble at the thought of military confrontation with China at that time."
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian took a calmer approach to responding to President Biden's statement, but condemned the U.S.' decision to investigate further. According to The Guardian, Zhao criticized the U.S. intelligence committee's "notorious track record," citing its lack of intelligence to justify the attacks on Iraq in 2003.
"[The US's] one aim is to use the pandemic to pursue stigmatisation and political manipulation to shift the blame," Zhao said. "They are being disrespectful to science, irresponsible to people's lives, and counterproductive to concerted global efforts to fight the virus."
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin also condemned the U.S.' move to prove the Wuhan lab leak theory, with Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin telling Times of India that the "[COVID] origins-tracing work to depend on scientists, not intelligence staff, and the work should not be dictated by certain countries."
Interestingly, reports indicate that China itself controlled the recent WHO investigation that looked into the origins of COVID-19. The investigators merely received reports from Chinese authorities. Further, the person that led the WHO's investigation into the virus' origins, Peter Daszak, admittedly had ties to the Chinese Communist Party, which is exhausting efforts to avoid taking responsibility for the virus that first broke out in Wuhan.
