U.S. ought to answer questions about 336 furtive biolabs worldwide

Special: Commentary

By John Lee

(ECNS) -- The U.S. government’s Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland on Tuesday admitted in a way that the U.S. had established biolabs in Ukraine. Previously, Russia found the U.S. worked with these biolabs to develop biological weapons, but the U.S. defended itself and denied they are under its control. Why did the U.S. change its attitude after denying it? Is there any ulterior motive behind these biolabs?

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on Tuesday revealed that the U.S. operates 336 biolabs in 30 countries. Data released by the U.S. itself shows that the country has 26 biolabs and other related facilities in Ukraine, and all dangerous pathogens there must be stored in these labs.

Some Americans and countries including Russia have questioned the use of these biolabs, but the U.S. government seemed to prevaricate with the excuse of "scientific research" and "peaceful use", rejecting to publish its research.

But a series of safety accidents, for example, missing deadly pathogens and infected mice, and the malfunction of lab equipment, have triggered global concern over these labs.

The Sputnik News of Russia cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying on Thursday that the U.S.-funded biological labs located in Ukraine were conducting experiments with bat coronavirus samples.

Documents from the Russian Defense Ministry said that the U.S. planned to conduct work on pathogens of birds, bats, and reptiles in Ukraine in 2022, with a further transition to studying the possibility of carrying African swine fever and anthrax, according to the Russian media.

Experiments which may bring disasters to people’s safety like these have already been conducted in U.S.-controlled biolabs in history.

For instance, Fort Detrick, a lab located in Maryland in the U.S., was notorious for safety accidents like the bizarre death of civilian employees, the loss of deadly strains, the leakage of viruses and chemicals, etc., and was once called "the center of the darkest experiment" of the U.S. government by local media.

And Fort Detrick is believed to be the tip of the iceberg. These non-transparent, non-standard and unsafe labs are like a sword hanging over the head, which makes the world anxious. However, the U.S. has never stopped its so-called research in these labs. The country even tried to impede the establishment of a verification protocol of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) worldwide and rejected the verification of its domestic biological facilities.

What kind of studies are the U.S. conducting in these biolabs? Do these studies nurture "bioterrorism"? Is there any ulterior motive behind these biolabs? Will they threaten the health and safety of people? The U.S. owes the world an explanation.