China-US Nuclear War: Is It a Possibility as US Theory of COVID-19 Wuhan Lab Leak Gains Support Globally?

The editor of the Chinese state-run newspaper, Hu Xijin, is saying that bolstering China's nuclear program is essential to the nation's "strategic deterrence" against the United States. Taiwan, Hong Kong, the COVID-19 pandemic, and accusations that China's engaged in a genocide against the Uighur Muslims create deeper divisions in an already tainted relationship between China and the United States.

The Chinese Communist Party media cautioned that the US could meet its "Waterloo" as it seeks to learn whether COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab. It omitted any mention of Beijing's concealment of data regarding the pandemic in its early months and stonewalling probing of the origins of the virus.

Biden Orders US Intelligence Agencies to Redouble Efforts in COVID-19 Origins Probe

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is commanding United States intelligence agencies to "redouble their efforts" to probe the origins of COVID-19. He included "specific questions for China."

According to the US president, an initial report he requested earlier this month on whether the virus came from human contact with an infected animal or a lab incident in China was inconclusive. Now, he is asking for a second report in 90 days for a "definitive conclusion."

Biden said, "As of today, the US Intelligence Community has 'coalesced around two likely scenarios' but has not reached a definitive conclusion on this question. Here is their current position: 'while two elements in the IC leans toward the former scenario and one leans more toward the latter - each with low or moderate confidence - the majority of elements do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other,'" reported ABC News.

With Beijing being one of the top concerns for the US, President Joe Biden has sought to strike a rigid tone. China sees most of the actions and comments of the US to be an intrusion on its sovereignty. The increasingly confrontational rhetoric and military actions of the two nations have raised concerns regarding a potential war, reported Newsweek.

According to the Global Times, "​Washington is too arrogant to realize that its vicious accusations against China have become a political gamble for itself. It has staked too many bargaining chips on credit from international morality. It actually has no way to back down from this dangerous status​."

The directive of the US president is a major change in how the White House is dealing with the theory that the virus might have originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This theory was elevated in 2020 by former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other martial Republicans.

While the US administration had until now stated that the World Health Organization should lead a more intensive probe and pressure China to be more transparent in the search for the COVID-19 origins, Biden's statement on Wednesday called on the United States intelligence community, not scientists, to spearhead the effort.