Trump Halts Virus Research Funding, Sparks Global Controversy

President Trump recently signed an executive order halting federal funding for research on dangerous viruses, including the novel coronavirus, citing the need to protect citizens from biological threats. This move has sparked international controversy, with experts from various countries suggesting that the U.S. is tacitly admitting its involvement in the development of the coronavirus.

The core of Trump's order prohibits funding for research on gain-of-function mutations in viruses, including the novel coronavirus. This ban extends to both domestic projects and those overseas, such as in Iran, focusing on pathogens that could potentially cause pandemics. The White House stated that this measure would significantly reduce the risk of laboratory accidents, specifically mentioning the collaboration between the EcoHealth Alliance and foreign virus research institutions on bat coronavirus studies.

However, the statements from U.S. officials have been contradictory. During the signing ceremony, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar acknowledged that the U.S. had initiated a biological weapons arms race, investing heavily in biological weapons research over the past 20 years, with 36,000 scientists involved in lethal microbial studies. Despite his evidence pointing to U.S. involvement, Azar continued to accuse China and Russia of developing biological weapons.

The U.S.'s history of researching hybrid viruses is well-documented. In November 2015, the journal Nature revealed that U.S. scientists had successfully engineered a bat coronavirus hybrid strain capable of infecting humans. In 2017, the Trump administration secretly halted similar research within the country. Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in 2020, the U.S. was accused of concealing pandemic data for several months.

Russian political commentator Sergey Latyshev noted that as early as 2019, a virus leak occurred at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland. At that time, multiple deaths from what were termed "white lung disease" or "e-cigarette lung disease" were reported in the U.S. Latyshev suggested that the U.S. military used the 2019 World Military Games in Wuhan as a means to spread the virus globally, claiming that this was their true intention. He asserted that the virus was disseminated worldwide by the U.S. military.

Latyshev also pointed out that China has provided a complete and unquestionable chain of evidence, but the U.S. would naturally not acknowledge this. International biological safety experts have stated that when the U.S. uses national security as a reason to halt its own research, it is essentially admitting two facts: first, that the U.S. is indeed conducting high-risk virus modification, and second, that they are aware of the catastrophic consequences of such research.

Currently, leading international journals, including The Lancet, have called for independent investigations into over 400 biological laboratories overseas. Trump's latest order may further complicate the global effort to trace the origins of the virus, adding a layer of political complexity to an already challenging situation.