China Is Open to Scientific Cooperation, But Rejects Any Political-Driven Investigation
政治操弄涉疫情“国际调查”的把戏可以休矣
Chinese Ambassador in Netherlands Xu Hong
驻荷兰大使徐宏
May 12 2020
2020年5月12日
Recently, certain countries have called for an “independent international investigation” on issues such as whether COVID-19 originated in a laboratory in Wuhan and China’s initial response to the pandemic. In my view, this is nothing but another political trick to mislead the public and stigmatize China.
最近，少数几个西方国家要求就新冠病毒是否源自武汉某实验室以及中国在应对疫情中的“过错”等问题展开“独立的国际调查”。这又是一个典型的误导公众、抹黑中国的把戏。
However China is open to scientific cooperation on matters such as tracing the origin of the novel coronavirus. After sequencing and sharing with the world the genome of the new virus at full speed, China has maintained good communication with the World Health Organization and other countries. Scientists around the world, including top US expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, share the consensus that the virus originated from nature rather than a laboratory in Wuhan. Those who made such claims are only a handful of politicians who have demonstrated little respect for science, and have not been backed up even by their own intelligence agencies.
中国在就新冠病毒溯源等问题开展国际科研合作方面始终持开放态度。在以最快速度分离出这一新型病毒并与全球分享病毒全基因组系列后，中国与世卫组织和其他国家在病毒的研究、溯源等科学问题上一直保持着良好沟通与协作，取得了不少成果。目前，全球科学家，包括白宫首席“抗疫队长”福奇等对于新冠病毒系源于自然界而非武汉实验室已有高度共识。宣称新冠病毒来自武汉某实验室的，仅仅是寥寥几个不讲科学的政客而已，且空口无凭，甚至连其情报机构都没有为其“背书”。
Tracing the origin of a virus is a complicated and rigorous process, in which scientific principles should be followed. We should leave these tasks to scientists instead of presupposing conclusions for political purposes.
病毒溯源工作是一项复杂而严谨的进程，必须遵循科学规律。我们应该把这项工作留给科学家们，而不应为了科学以外的目的编造或预设结论。
It should be noted that the place where COVID-19 was first reported is not necessarily the origin of the virus. More and more cases are being discovered outside China, which suggests the disease might have appeared in other countries earlier than people thought. For example, an American mayor claimed to have been infected with the virus as early as last November. The specific types of virus found in China, the US and Europe are also different, making it necessary for the tracing work to be carried out on a global scale, instead of just focusing on China. Therefore, in order for the effort to succeed, we hope all countries concerned can be open to such cooperation.
应当注意的是，最早报告病例的地方并不一定是病毒起源地。目前在中国以外地方已发现越来越多更早的新冠病毒感染病例，例如美国一位市长声称自己去年11月就感染了新冠病毒，而且在中、美、欧发现的病毒类型各不相同。因此，溯源地不应局限于武汉或中国，而要“全球溯源”。希望各相关国家都能对此持同样开放的态度。
China has nothing to hide or be shameful of in how it handled the pandemic. Giving top priority to people’s lives and health, China has fulfilled its obligations under the International Health Regulations. People from around the world and relevant international organizations such as the WHO have expressed their admiration in China’s efforts in containing the virus and engaging in international assistance and cooperation.
除病毒溯源方面的国际合作外，中国完全支持对国际社会应对疫情情况进行总结审议。在此方面，中国没有任何亏心之处。中国本着将人的生命健康置于首要位置的原则积极抗疫，充分履行了《国际卫生条例》下的义务，在控制本国疫情和参与国际合作方面付出了巨大努力，得到世卫组织和国际社会高度肯定。
Of course, experiences and lessons from this pandemic should be learned at both international and domestic levels. Therefore, in addition to being open to international cooperation to find out the origin of the virus, China has also expressed support for relevant international review with the coordination of the WHO. The work of international review shall follow the principles of equality, objectivity and fairness, with the goal of improving global health governance and be conducted at an appropriate time when the global pandemic has been effectively brought under control. At present, all countries should concentrate on stepping up international solidarity to contain the pandemic as soon as possible. This is the consensus of the vast majority of members of the international community, including China and the Netherlands.
由于面临如此巨大的挑战，国际和各国国内层面的应对都有不少经验和教训值得总结，因此，中方支持在全球疫情得到有效控制后的适当时机，在世卫组织协调下，基于科学和事实，本着平等、客观、公正的原则对此开展专业和全面的回顾与总结，以便完善全球公共卫生治理体系，提升治理能力。但当前，国际社会应集中精力加强团结与合作，尽快控制住疫情。这是包括中荷在内的绝大多数国家的共识。
China supports international scientific cooperation and professional review, but firmly opposes any dirty political trick for political gains under the disguise of an “international investigation”. We all remember the one on Iraq in search of “weapons of massive destruction”, prior to US’s invasion of the country in 2003. Certain politicians seem to be orchestrating the same trick again. In their scenario, China is the “guilty one”, and an “international investigation” will produce “proof” for final conviction and basis for compensation. Their true aim is to deflect from their failure in response to the pandemic and stay in power. From a legal perspective, such an approach has serious flaws and will be rejected by countries and conscionable persons upholding the international rule of law.
中国在支持上述科研合作和专业总结的同时，坚决反对借所谓“国际调查”名义，谋政治私利之实。世人对个别国家当年为入侵伊拉克就所谓伊拉克拥有“大规模杀伤性武器”所开展的“调查”记忆犹新。个别国家现在想故伎重演。他们所鼓吹的“国际调查”，就是要先给中国安上一个“罪名”，然后去罗织“证据”，以便对中国“追责”、“求偿”；同时还要借此推卸自身抗疫失败的责任，服务其国内大选和全球霸权的目的。这种做法纯粹是开历史倒车，与国际公平、正义和法治完全沾不上边，任何一个国家都不可能接受。
Firstly, to trigger such an “international investigation” against a certain country for the purpose of accountability, there must be sufficient grounds to make the case that the country has committed “international wrongful acts”. Secondly, any investigation shall be duly authorized by mandated international mechanisms, meet relevant requirements and follow due procedures. Otherwise, such an act will severely harm the existing international order. The government trying to hype this issue should first reflect on its own behavior: has it fulfilled its “responsibility to protect” its own people? Why it has been creating obstacles to block international cooperation, such as withholding funding for international organizations? How many secrets are being kept in the dark? Before we talk about an “independent investigation” on China, the world deserves to know the answers to these questions.
必须指出，如要对一个主权国家启动此类以追责为目的的调查，首先国际社会要有充分理由怀疑被调查国实施了“国际不法行为”，其次要经过有权限的国际机制正当授权，遵循特定条件和程序进行，而不能随意为之，否则国际关系就乱了套。希望带头炒作这个议题的国家不要走火入魔，而要先实事求是地检视一下自己，它对本国人民有没有尽到“保护的责任”？为何对国际抗疫合作频频制造障碍，包括拒绝履行对国际组织的供资义务？黑幕后面还藏有多少见不得人的东西？对这些，世界需要知道真相。