> The fact is, if it did come from a lab, what difference would it make? Everybody does gain-of-function research. Everybody has lab accidents. The only reason

> The fact is, if it did come from a lab, what difference would it make? Everybody does gain-of-function research. Everybody has lab accidents. The only reason why anybody is pushing this idea is as a geopolitical stalking horse designed to make China seem like a legitimate target for agression. I don't see how this follows. Yes, other countries do GoF research, and accidents have happened in the past. It appears that this lab was doing some particularly risky things by handling these Coronaviruses in BSL-2 labs. The real difference though is that the Chinese government's actions after the outbreak are shown in a new light if it was in fact a leak. You'd have the first cases presenting in November, with the government having a very good idea what the cause was. However, China was denying human-human transmission until Jan 21. China also lobbied heavily to keep international air traffic moving and borders open. The Chinese government also appears to have tried to suppress the publication of the sequence of the virus -- the lab that uploaded it was subsequently closed for "rectification." In the context of an evolving situation with an unknown virus, these actions would be more excusable. In the context of a leak that had been going on for two months, it starts to look like China would bear some liability, in the same way that a hit-and-run is treated differently from accidentally hitting someone and stopping to render aid.