I think there are social/political ramifications to seriously consider.
Similar to if we had a sudden large radiation hazard and it was unclear if it was some spontaneously emerging phenomenon with essentially no direct human cause, or a power plant/enrichment facility/warhead manufacturer/etc.
And beyond that, there are supposedly methods of (even purely scientifically motivated) research that would involve engineering a virus with certain properties that also happen to make it extraordinarily deadly.
Ethics committees determine all sorts of experiments to be prohibitively unethical, and a virus with particularly deadly design should certainly be held under such scrutiny.
The Chinese response to international concerns over the Wuhan virus is very similar to the Soviet Unions response to the same concern over a sudden spike in nuclear radiation. There’s something strange about a government that works so hard to stifle all questions and dissent. It’s like they don’t realize the act of oppression of inquiry raises the level of inquiry even more.
That right there would do more to improve Chinese international relations and faith in the Chinese government than anything they could possibly do otherwise. Hands-down. That is what the world demands, and if they wish to be a global player, they are going to half to get along with everyone else
No, all China has to do is push the origin investigation towards a South Asian country like Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam with large wild game trade. It's scientifically plausible and something Chinese science community suspected / deflected towards early in the outbreak.
Suddenly China's rapid detection and extreme lockdown would literally be properly contextualized as buying the world time, and the Chinese system would be validated beyond measure.
Similar to if we had a sudden large radiation hazard and it was unclear if it was some spontaneously emerging phenomenon with essentially no direct human cause, or a power plant/enrichment facility/warhead manufacturer/etc.
And beyond that, there are supposedly methods of (even purely scientifically motivated) research that would involve engineering a virus with certain properties that also happen to make it extraordinarily deadly.
Ethics committees determine all sorts of experiments to be prohibitively unethical, and a virus with particularly deadly design should certainly be held under such scrutiny.