Efforts by the United States to smear China, and blame it for originating the deadly Covid-19, either by acts of commission or omission, have fallen flat after the report by the country's intelligence community was considered inconclusive. "Inconclusive" is a euphemism — a polite way — to say there was no evidence to support the outrageous claims that China manufactured, or modified the virus as a bioweapon, or that the virus accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. These were two major conspiracy theories that the US had been peddling and, in an act of desperation, President Joe Biden tasked the intelligence community to corroborate them. By giving the task to the intelligence community, which includes the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Biden gave America's notorious intelligence community the carte blanche to conduct both covert and overt operations that could involve planting or manufacturing evidence to push a certain narrative. The CIA has a long history of these dirty operations, seen in South and Central America, as well as in Africa. The most blatant lies of our time framed Iraq for the so-called weapons of mass destruction, leading to the country's disastrous invasion by allied Western powers in 2003. Biden's use of the intelligence community, when enough scientific inquiry had already been made under the aegis of the World Health Organisation, was meant to achieve cheap political goals in tarnishing the image of China globally, and also for US domestic audiences. At home, the US mishandled the pandemic in a way that has exposed the country's leadership, ironically at the same time that China has shown incredible prudence, skill and global leadership under President Xi Jinping. According to statistics from the John Hopkins University, the US has recorded over 39 million Covid-19 infections and 630 000 deaths. These statistics mean that the US is the worst affected country in the world. The inept handling of the pandemic has led to the US being trapped in what has been described as a weird cycle of "deterioration-alleviation-resurgence" regarding pandemic control. The problem being that the disease won't go away, hence the decision by the US to deflect attention and misleading the world. However, the world is much wiser now. The origins tracing debacle is fraught with lessons that are key to understanding the world in 2021 and beyond. First, the world is no longer gullible. US propaganda may have worked throughout history and up until the lies about Iraqi's weapons of mass destruction, but there is a limit to lies that the world can take. Many countries and global citizens refused to buy the cheap propaganda about the origins-tracing, and saw through the lie; correctly locating the imagined origins feud as a mind game between the US and China. Significantly, many countries, including Zimbabwe, stood by China to ward off the political smearing. Secondly, another key lesson is that science, not politics, should lead the fight against global pandemics and other challenges. The scientific cooperation between the Word Health Organisation's experts and China's has come up with vital information that could be useful in fighting against the disease. At a time when the world is also facing prospects of more diseases, hunger and climate change, only science will be key to unlocking solutions to troubles for humanity. Thirdly, and connected to the above, global solidarity is key to confronting challenges to humanity. The pandemic happened at a time when the US, under President Donald Trump, was championing the so-called "America First" policy. This resulted in the US seeking to impose a not-so-splendid isolation, and becoming more inward looking. Further, the US threatened to withhold, or withheld support for international institutions such as the WHO. For all we know, America has been the loser. The world at large would be better off with the cooperation of the US, but only when it learns to respect science rather than continue political manipulation. The fourth lesson is that against the backdrop of "inconclusive" results about the origins of the virus, the US itself has come under increasing scrutiny for not subjecting itself to origins-tracing when there is a prima facie case that it could as well be linked to the origins, and early spread of the disease. The US' scientific community dabbled with coronaviruses at facilities such as the Fort Detrick, which recorded poor safety standards. Some cases of pneumonic diseases similar to Covid-19 were recorded in the US, pre-dating Covid-19. Lastly, a key lesson from the origins-tracing debacle has been an inadvertent reaffirmation of the emergence of China as a global leader and alternative source of wisdom. President Xi has demonstrated sobriety, astuteness and love for all humanity by leading efforts to fight the disease from a united global standpoint without leaving anyone behind, especially poor countries who have struggled with access to vaccines. He declared that vaccines are a public good, and extended aid to poor countries at a time other richer nations were hoarding vaccines and thinking in silos. All countries need to remember these five lessons and defeat the Covid-19 pandemic.
