公民力量新闻组
2020年2月28日
中国官方首席防疫专家钟南山在2月27日广州市政府召开的疫情防控新闻发布会上表示，疫情的源头“不一定在中国”。新冠疫情爆发后，有关疫情的源头出现了各种阴谋论，有人怀疑病毒是中国秘密研制生物武器所致，或者是武汉病毒研究所操作疏忽而泄漏，而中国社交媒体上也有一个流行的说法，病毒是美国制造的。钟南山关于病毒源头最新说法，会让有关病毒源头的争论进一步复杂化，在新冠肺炎疫情蔓延全球引发多国紧张之际，确定病毒源头的问题至关紧要，为此，公民力量创办人杨建利博士给刚刚受美国总统川普之命挂帅美国防疫工作的副总统彭斯写信，吁请美国敦促其他国家以及世界卫生组织等相关国际机构组成专家调查团、并要求中国政府尽快开放及配合国际调查团的调查工作，以便尽快确定病毒源头使全球的抗疫工作更加精准和有效。
杨建利博士给彭斯副总统的信通过私下传递和公开发表的两种方式呈达。该信全文如下。
February 28, 2020
Dear Vice-President Pence:
We welcome your leadership role in protecting Americans from the coronavirus (COVID-19). I am taking the liberty to address you with information we believe highly pertinent to the United States Government’s relations with China concerning this threat.
At a press conference on the “Prevention and Control of the Coronavirus Epidemic” held by the City Government of Guangzhou on Feb. 27, Professor Zhong Nanshan, China’s leading expert on COVID-19, claimed that the origin of the coronavirus has yet to be established. While the first infections were reported in China, he said that given outbreaks of the disease elsewhere, the virus may not have originated in China.
Given Zhong’s official status as the leading expert of China’s National Health Commission and, hence, one of the faces of the country’s effort to contain the virus, his statement, largely overlooked by international media, has important implications.
As you know, numerous conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus have appeared, including those attributing it to the United States. Many in China believe and spread the rumor that the US launched the virus as a biological bomb through the 7th CISM Military World Games, which were held in Wuhan on Oct. 18-27, 2019. Five athletes were hospitalized during and immediately after the games. Nobody knows the role of the Chinese government in the origin and spread of this rumor.
The United States, relevant international organizations like WHO and the United Nations, and indeed the entire international community, should have from the onset of this crisis, pressed the Chinese authorities to provide information about the origin of the virus, or at least allow an international investigation on this question. We cannot understand the virus, and know how to contain it, if we do not know its origins, and China’s obfuscations are thus an international public health threat.
Now that Zhong is second guessing the widely believed origin of the virus, it is time for the US and the international community to forcefully pursue this question. We thus respectfully urge you to take lead in this endeavor as a major element of your mandate:
Press China to be transparent in all respects, and to welcome and facilitate international investigations on the question of whether, and how, the coronavirus was originated from China. In this connection, the United States, in cooperation with other governments, WHO, and other relevant international bodies, should press China to be open to and cooperate with such investigations.
Thank you for your attention to our recommendation.
Sincerely,
Jianli Yang
Founder and President of Citizen Power Initiatives for China
