Trump opens Pandora’s Box

In Greek mythology, the insatiably curious Pandora opened the lid of a box, and from it poured all the troubles of the world—sickness, death, poverty and toil. The White House has adapted this ancient tale to assail China over Covid-19, asserting with no visible evidence that the virus accidentally escaped from a lab in Wuhan where scientists were studying its presence in bats. "Somebody was stupid," proclaimed President Donald Trump, who has been frantically trying to shift the klieg light away from the 76,000 Americans (and climbing) who have died on his watch. Mike Pompeo, his Secretary of State, at one point insisted there is "enormous evidence" to back the claim, but like Trump never revealed any. After splashing the allegation across the media spectrum, Pompeo later backtracked, conceding "we don't have certainty."   Most scientists see the lab story as a modern myth, believing instead that the virus jumped from bats to animals being raised for food before infecting humans. U.S. intelligence agencies under Trump's sway still don't rule out the lab theory, but at least concur with scientists everywhere that the virus wasn't man-made or genetically modified.   A bat hangs inside a cave in Weining County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. Photographer: He Huan/Xinhua This week in the New Economy South Korea may be speeding up its shift to renewable energy. The beef shortage is good for India, a top buffalo producer. Africa's wealthiest city said 1 million people need food aid. Turkey plans half a million antibody tests to fight its outbreak. Hong Kong lawmakers scuffle after China loyalists assert control.   Pompeo's retreat notwithstanding, an international inquiry is clearly essential. Covid-19 has unleashed all the evils of Pandora's Box. Lessons must be learned. We're living in a new age of pandemics, without adequate science, or national health policies, or social protocols to mitigate their disastrous effects. Global public health demands urgent answers to basic questions. Key among them is which animal species passed the virus to humans. World Health Organization scientists were looking into this question before the lockdown in Wuhan interrupted their work. If an unseen reservoir of infection is lurking in nature, China has as much interest in finding it as the rest of the world. Equally clear, however, is that Beijing won't agree to such an inquest. Chinese officials argue that the Pandora's Box theory is an easy way for Trump to deflect blame for his administration's deadly incompetence in handling the crisis. But an investigation could also end up humiliating the Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping, by revealing details of mismanagement and cover-ups in the early stages of the Wuhan outbreak. Lifting that lid is politically unthinkable. Hence, China reacted with fury to a demand by Australia's foreign minister, Marise Payne, for an "independent review" into the cause and spread of the virus. China's ambassador to Canberra appeared to threaten a Chinese consumer boycott of Australia, triggering a wave of anti-China indignation Down Under.   China's first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier returned to port in Dalian in 2018. Tensions are rising in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Photographer: AFP Where is all of this heading? Unfounded U.S. accusations aimed at stoking right-wing voters and undiplomatic behavior by Beijing's "Wolf Warrior" ambassadors not only imperil the global response to the pandemic but threaten to exacerbate the economic fallout. The U.S.-China "phase one" trade deal is up in the air, despite a phone call among the country's top trade negotiators, raising the prospect of a renewal of Trump's trade war at a time when borders everywhere are closing to goods and people. And tensions are rising around other flashpoints, too—in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and cyberspace. At such a moment, a politically weakened Trump's invocation of the darkest chapters in American history, threatening retaliation against China during an election year, is ominous. "This is worse than Pearl Harbor, this is worse than the World Trade Center. There's never been an attack like this," he said. We're at a dangerous moment. We must remember that, once opened, Pandora's Box can never be closed. A Vaccine Hope   Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of medical scientists had a somewhatmore optimistic take on the Pandora myth. In one variant of the story, they note, after all the evils rushed out of the opened box, the empty space was filled by hope.   As the world races to find a vaccine, the fate of the global economy hangs in the balance. On Tuesday, May 19, at 10 a.m. EDT, our next virtual conversation series event will explore the challenges in finding, producing and distributing a vaccine. Click here to register to join us for Bloomberg New Economy Conversations: The Race for a Covid-19 Vaccine. You can also follow us on Twitter @neweconforum . __________________________________________________________ Like Turning Points?  Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. You'll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. China is one of the world 's biggest stories. Sign up to receive Next China , a weekly dispatch on where China stands and where it's headed next Download the Bloomberg app:  It's available for iOS and Android. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more. Follow Us Get the newsletter You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Turning Points newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022