This type of pandering to Xi and China is exactly what helped them escape accountability. I feel the virus should have continued to be referred to as the “Wuhan

This type of pandering to Xi and China is exactly what helped them escape accountability. I feel the virus should have continued to be referred to as the “Wuhan virus” or “China virus” alongside other names because the virus’s origin DOES bear relevance. I feel the reason these phrases were banned was simply to attack Trump as xenophobic and use it as a political tool in a contentious election year. But by black holing the location on the grounds it might offend or stigmatize, news media and the general public have turned a blind eye to China not reporting the outbreak to the rest of the world, not shutting down their ports, arresting journalists who reported on it, preventing a site visit for over a year, deleting data/records of their research, not upholding safety standards at WIV, and more. Lastly, this notion that things that offend must not be spoken even if there is a rational reason for them (like just being the next in the alphabet) is a dangerous precedent. The political left will probably welcome it, because much of their social justice causes are built on this type of sentiment. But seeing trusted institutions practice the same ideology is creepy and a dystopian distortion of reality.