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Remember that US State Department members were warning of risky coronavirus research at the lab in Wuhan years before this pandemic happened. https://www.polit

Remember that US State Department members were warning of risky coronavirus research at the lab in Wuhan years before this pandemic happened. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/08/josh-rogin-chaos-under-heaven-wuhan-lab-book-excerpt-474322 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/08/josh-rogin... That isn't proof of anything but all of this makes for interesting reading.

DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
Josh Rogin has been misrepesenting these diplomatic cables for a year now. If you read the actual cables (which Rogin refused to publish when he wrote his first story - they only came out later due to a FOIA request), they did not warn that the lab was unsafe. The cables stated said that the lab did not yet have enough technicians to run at full capacity. As of the time of writing of the cables, the lab had not yet opened. The cables were simply arguing that the US should continue to fund its training program for the lab's staff (they're trained at the premiere US high-biocontainment laboratory, in Galveston, Texas). The cables did not point to any safety problems with the lab. The people who visited the lab and wrote the cables wouldn't have known how to identify safety problems anyways - they were just diplomats. They simply stated that the US training program was important and to emphasize that, they stated that the not-yet-opened lab did not yet have enough technicians. Rogin has been trying to spin this into some sort of dire warning, but that's simply a willful misreading of the cables.
- EMM_386 6y ago
  I disagree. You are referring to part (5). Part (6) in the cable specifically warns with regard to WIV scientists studying SARS viruses that interact with human ACE2 receptors. The cable is here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-state-department-cable-that-launched-claims-that-coronavirus-escaped-from-chinese-lab/2b80aef2-f728-4c36-8875-3bf6aae1d272/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-state-depart...
  - DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
    Part 6 is about a paper published in PLoS Pathogens. It says nothing about safety concerns.
    - EMM_386 6y ago
      You are pointing out one section while ignoring another. What about the last sentence regarding WIV scientists studying human-disease causing SARS coronaviruses until "permission is granted" by China's NHFCP? The one with the redacted bit at the front? I'm not sure if you are intentionally playing games with words here but let's cut to the chase. Edit: Reading through your comment history and submissions, I can see this is an account used to spin discussions.
      - DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
        > What about the last sentence regarding WIV scientists studying human-disease causing SARS coronaviruses until "permission is granted" by China's NHFCP? What about it? This isn't any kind of warning that the lab is unsafe. It's completely normal (and good) for countries to regulate research into pathogens. Would you rather that China not require approval before labs study SARS-CoV? I honestly don't think you understand what you are reading.
        dang 6y ago
        Please omit swipes from your HN comments. Your comment would be fine without the last sentence, and actually you don't need "What about it?" either. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
      - dang 6y ago
        You've broken the site guidelines badly here, regardless of what any other account has been doing. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules.

DiogenesKynikos 6y ago

Josh Rogin has been misrepesenting these diplomatic cables for a year now. If you read the actual cables (which Rogin refused to publish when he wrote his first story - they only came out later due to a FOIA request), they did not warn that the lab was unsafe. The cables stated said that the lab did not yet have enough technicians to run at full capacity. As of the time of writing of the cables, the lab had not yet opened. The cables were simply arguing that the US should continue to fund its training program for the lab's staff (they're trained at the premiere US high-biocontainment laboratory, in Galveston, Texas). The cables did not point to any safety problems with the lab. The people who visited the lab and wrote the cables wouldn't have known how to identify safety problems anyways - they were just diplomats. They simply stated that the US training program was important and to emphasize that, they stated that the not-yet-opened lab did not yet have enough technicians. Rogin has been trying to spin this into some sort of dire warning, but that's simply a willful misreading of the cables.

EMM_386 6y ago
I disagree. You are referring to part (5). Part (6) in the cable specifically warns with regard to WIV scientists studying SARS viruses that interact with human ACE2 receptors. The cable is here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-state-department-cable-that-launched-claims-that-coronavirus-escaped-from-chinese-lab/2b80aef2-f728-4c36-8875-3bf6aae1d272/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-state-depart...
- DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
  Part 6 is about a paper published in PLoS Pathogens. It says nothing about safety concerns.
  - EMM_386 6y ago
    You are pointing out one section while ignoring another. What about the last sentence regarding WIV scientists studying human-disease causing SARS coronaviruses until "permission is granted" by China's NHFCP? The one with the redacted bit at the front? I'm not sure if you are intentionally playing games with words here but let's cut to the chase. Edit: Reading through your comment history and submissions, I can see this is an account used to spin discussions.
    - DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
      > What about the last sentence regarding WIV scientists studying human-disease causing SARS coronaviruses until "permission is granted" by China's NHFCP? What about it? This isn't any kind of warning that the lab is unsafe. It's completely normal (and good) for countries to regulate research into pathogens. Would you rather that China not require approval before labs study SARS-CoV? I honestly don't think you understand what you are reading.
      - dang 6y ago
        Please omit swipes from your HN comments. Your comment would be fine without the last sentence, and actually you don't need "What about it?" either. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - dang 6y ago
      You've broken the site guidelines badly here, regardless of what any other account has been doing. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules.