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How could outside a lab be more embarrassing than a lab-leak? There would be nothing to blame China about an outside the lab scenario.
by 323 5y ago
How could outside a lab be more embarrassing than a lab-leak? There would be nothing to blame China about an outside the lab scenario.
- zeruch 5y agoDepends on interpretation: one infers possible security embarrassment (or exposure of a secret), the other potentially total incompetence at failure to ID/notice/contain (or otherwise manage). Depending on which members of the Politburo care more about what perception, may in fact mold towards which one they feel more "comfortable admitting to" if the evidence is ambiguous.
- hackerfromthefu 5y agoFrom what I've read, they NEVER admit to anything.
- zeruch 5y agoMostly true, but there is always nagging truths that surface at which point denial becomes worse for them. It all depends on what they are allowed to get away with; if other states balk vs capitulate, there are more rounds of diplomatic chess to go through.
- notahacker 5y agoThey're denying the lab leak too. But if it turns out that, say, there was an isolated outbreak in some rural area a few months earlier known to the authorities who covered up because they thought they had it under control (whilst also knowing it was new and SARS-like and worthy of study at their coronavirus lab) that would be hugely damaging for the Chinese government even if it spread naturally
- woodruffw 5y agoYeah, this is the kind of scenario I was thinking of: the PRC covers up all kinds of petty mistakes and refuses to acknowledge them even in the face of overwhelming evidence and the potential for exculpation from much more damaging theories. But again, it’s speculation on my part.