What Happened:
China has rejected the World Health Organization (WHO) plan to launch a second investigation into the origins of COVID-19, which involves further examining a theory that the virus was leaked from a lab in Wuhan, Reuters reported July 22. China’s vice minister of the National Health Commission, Zeng Yixin, said the theory “disregards common sense” since the lab in question doesn’t work on viruses that could directly infect humans and that sharing COVID-19 data would violate patient privacy.

Why It Matters
China may eventually agree to a limited second investigation. But Beijing will do everything in its diplomatic power to prevent a complete and thorough probe, as any incriminating evidence that ties COVID-19 to Wuhan (however unlikely, given 20 months have passed since the pandemic began) would risk severely damaging China’s international reputation at a time when Beijing is already fending off Western criticism of its trade and human rights practices ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Refusing to cooperate in the WHO investigation, however — which centers on early infection data from China — will only lend more credence to the growing number of officials in the United States and other Western countries who claim Beijing takes advantage of the international system for its national benefit.

Background
On July 16, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a new plan to investigate COVID-19’s origins in China, including inquiries into Wuhan markets and laboratory audits, citing insufficient raw data from the first investigation report released in March. Since March, China’s foreign ministry has rejected the COVID-19 criticisms of individual nations like the United States and Australia and refuted claims that China didn’t support international norms and institutions — particularly those of the United Nations, under which the WHO resides.