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The idea of accountability is the thing that is holding back the investigation. Because if China were found "culpable", there is no way they could pay compensat

The idea of accountability is the thing that is holding back the investigation. Because if China were found "culpable", there is no way they could pay compensation for the trillions of economic damage and all the lifes lost. Not even the geopolitical oppenents of China are willing to go there. What we need is to prevent further such incidents in the future. So if the question of accountability is off the table, lets just think about what the consequence would be if the virus was an accidential lab escape (from any country). We should immediately take measures such that that never happens again. That means increasing the safety measures and transparency, and possibly banning gain-of-function research. Unfortunately, the undercurrent of the whole discussion is "who is to blame", not "how to prevent this again". (Also, I think this is one of the reasons they tried to downplay the outbreak in the beginning.)

_-david-_ 5y ago
>Because if China were found "culpable", there is no way they could pay compensation for the trillions of economic damage and all the lifes lost. Not even the geopolitical oppenents of China are willing to go there. I mean we could just take it out of the debt we owe to China. China owns over $1 trillion in US debt. It wouldn't cover all the expenses the US had due to this pandemic but it would help. I would agree that almost nobody on the US would actually advocate for it. > Unfortunately, the undercurrent of the whole discussion is "who is to blame", not "how to prevent this again". You have to know how it started and who is to blame in order to put in safe guard against it in the future.
PicassoCTs 5y ago
Accountability does not necessary mean monetary damages and compensation. It would be good enough, if there was a government internal reform, that actually resulted in reliable, "in-control" government, instead of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village "strong government" facade that is obviously in effect right now. Nobody would have trouble entrusting bio-research to Taiwan or South Korea.

_-david-_ 5y ago

>Because if China were found "culpable", there is no way they could pay compensation for the trillions of economic damage and all the lifes lost. Not even the geopolitical oppenents of China are willing to go there. I mean we could just take it out of the debt we owe to China. China owns over $1 trillion in US debt. It wouldn't cover all the expenses the US had due to this pandemic but it would help. I would agree that almost nobody on the US would actually advocate for it. > Unfortunately, the undercurrent of the whole discussion is "who is to blame", not "how to prevent this again". You have to know how it started and who is to blame in order to put in safe guard against it in the future.

PicassoCTs 5y ago

Accountability does not necessary mean monetary damages and compensation. It would be good enough, if there was a government internal reform, that actually resulted in reliable, "in-control" government, instead of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village "strong government" facade that is obviously in effect right now. Nobody would have trouble entrusting bio-research to Taiwan or South Korea.