International
U.S. Ambassador: China must be honest about COVID’s origins
February 28 |
The U.S. ambassador to China says Beijing needs to be more forthcoming about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after reports that the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the outbreak likely began because of a leak at a Chinese lab.
Nicholas Burns said Monday at a US Chamber of Commerce event via video link that China needs to “be more honest about what happened three years ago in Wuhan with the origin of the COVID-19 crisis.” Wuhan is the Chinese city where the first cases of the new coronavirus were reported in December 2019.
His comments come a day after U.S. media reported that the Department of Energy determined that the pandemic likely stemmed from a lab leak in Wuhan.
The department made its judgment in a classified intelligence report provided to the White House and key members of Congress, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development, citing people who read the report.
The WSJ said the Energy Department’s intelligence agency was now the second U.S. intelligence agency after the FBI to conclude that a leak at a Chinese lab was the likely cause of the pandemic, although U.S. spy agencies remain divided over the origins of the virus.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed that sentiment.
“There has been no definitive conclusion or consensus in the U.S. government on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kirby told reporters Monday when asked about the WSJ report.
The Energy Department’s assessment was made with “low confidence,” while the FBI’s conclusion was determined with “moderate confidence,” according to the WSJ. Four other U.S. agencies reportedly determined with “low confidence” that the virus was naturally transmitted through animals, while two other agencies remain undecided.
The reports bring national attention back to the question of what caused the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Energy Department’s conclusion marks a shift from its earlier position that it was undecided about how the virus began. U.S. officials did not disclose what new intelligence prompted the change. The Energy Department’s analysis came from its network of national laboratories, giving it a different perspective than more traditional intelligence assessments.
On Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that “there are a variety of views in the intelligence community.”
“Some elements of the intelligence community have come to conclusions on one side, some on the other,” he said.
Scientists have also been divided on the issue, with some pointing to the live animal market in Wuhan as the most likely place where the virus emerged, noting that animal-to-human transmission has been the pathway for many previously unknown pathogens. However, other scientists have given credence to the laboratory escape theory, noting that no animal source has been found and that Wuhan is a major site of coronavirus research.
The question of how the virus began has also exacerbated political divisions in the U.S., with Republicans more likely to back the lab leak hypothesis.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton was one of the first high-profile politicians to express the theory that the virus originated in a laboratory, commenting in February 2020, when the prevailing view was that the virus had been transmitted by bats and spread at a food market in Wuhan.
After a growing number of scientists urged serious consideration of both hypotheses, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered an intelligence review of the origins of COVID-19 in May 2021.
An intelligence assessment declassified in October 2021 indicated that both hypotheses were plausible, but that intelligence agencies remained divided over which theory was correct. The report said there was consensus among intelligence agencies that the pandemic was not the result of a Chinese biological weapons program.
China has repeatedly denied that there was a lab leak in Wuhan. It has placed limits on World Health Organization investigations to determine the origin of the virus.
Some of the information in this report came from Reuters.
International
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressed concerns over China’s growing military activity near Taiwan during a meeting on Friday with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was a constructive and positive meeting,” Hegseth wrote on X. “I emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and raised U.S. concerns about China’s actions around Taiwan,” the self-governed island that Beijing claims and does not rule out invading.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea. According to Trump, Taiwan was not discussed during their talks.
“The United States does not seek conflict and will continue to firmly defend its interests, ensuring it maintains the capability to do so in the region,” Hegseth added in his message.
Friday’s encounter followed a September 9 video call between Hegseth and Dong. Their previously planned meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore was canceled due to Dong’s absence from the event.
Trump’s sit-down with Xi — their first since 2019 — resulted in some trade agreements but avoided addressing the issue of Taiwan, a long-standing source of tension between the world’s two largest powers.
Trump has taken a more ambiguous stance on Taiwan’s future compared with former President Joe Biden, who repeatedly stated that Washington would support Taipei if China launched an invasion. The Republican president has also criticized Taiwan for “stealing” the U.S. semiconductor industry.
International
U.S. considering airstrikes on military sites in Venezuela, reports say
The United States may soon carry out airstrikes on military facilities inside Venezuela as part of an escalating offensive against Nicolás Maduro’s regime, according to reports Friday from the Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the Trump administration.
Airstrikes could take place “within days or even hours,” the Herald reported. The Journal noted that while the option is under serious consideration, President Donald Trump has not yet made a final decision on authorizing strikes on Venezuelan soil.
Potential targets allegedly include military-controlled ports and airports used in drug trafficking operations, such as naval installations and airstrips, officials told the Journal.
The Herald also quoted a source saying that “Maduro’s time is running out”, suggesting that more than one Venezuelan general may be ready to detain and hand him over. However, officials declined to confirm whether the Venezuelan leader would be among the military targets.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to block the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, following nearly two months of airstrikes against vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Those operations have destroyed 15 boats and left 61 people dead and three survivors since September 1.
“We are finally waging a war against the cartels — a war like they’ve never seen before — and we are going to win that battle. We are already winning at sea,” Trump told U.S. troops during a speech in Japan.
The reports on possible airstrikes come on the same day the United Nations accused the U.S. of violating international law with its maritime operations, saying those killed at sea may have been victims of extrajudicial executions.
International
Pope Leo XIV revives Global Compact on Education to confront cultural crisis
Pope Leo XIV announced on Friday that he will revive and update the Global Compact on Education, an initiative launched by the late Pope Francis aimed at deeply transforming global culture through education.
The announcement was made during an audience in St. Peter’s Square, held on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Educational World, which this week gathers more than 20,000 participants from 124 countries in Rome.
During his address, the pontiff — who is of U.S. origin and Peruvian nationality — emphasized the importance of restoring the value of educators and reinforcing the principles that support the pact.
“We must be careful: damaging the social and cultural role of educators means mortgaging our own future,” he warned before thousands in attendance. “A crisis in the transmission of knowledge leads to a crisis of hope.”
The Global Compact on Education, launched by Pope Francis, seeks an integral and long-term cultural transformation. It is structured around five pillars: dignity and human rights; fraternity and cooperation; technology and integral ecology; education for peace and citizenship; and culture and religions. To date, the initiative has been joined by over 553 schools and nearly 410,000 students, according to Catholic Schools data.
Pope Leo XIV also expressed concern over the widespread inner fragility affecting both students and teachers — many of whom feel overwhelmed by bureaucratic burdens.
He additionally addressed the role of artificial intelligence in education, warning that it may worsen emotional isolation among learners: “It can further isolate students who are already isolated, giving them the illusion that they do not need others — or worse, the feeling that they are unworthy of them,” he said.
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. considering airstrikes on military sites in Venezuela, reports say
Pope Leo XIV revives Global Compact on Education to confront cultural crisis
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