In a groundbreaking investigation by the Associated Press (AP), it has been uncovered that the Chinese government had effectively halted meaningful efforts to trace the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite publicly declaring support for an open scientific inquiry, the freeze on investigations began early in the outbreak and involved both political and scientific conflicts in China, as well as international complications.

The AP investigation drew upon thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents, leaked recordings, and dozens of interviews. It revealed that crucial initial efforts to trace the virus's origins were hindered by bureaucrats in Wuhan who attempted to avoid blame and misled the central government. Chinese scientists were silenced, while visiting United Nations officials were subjected to controlled and stage-managed tours.

Internal materials obtained by the AP suggest that the World Health Organization (WHO) itself may have compromised early opportunities to gather critical information, further clouding the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The exact date when Chinese authorities began searching for the origins of the virus remains unclear. While the first publicly known search took place on December 31, 2019, at the Wuhan market where numerous early cases were detected, a confidential recording of a WHO meeting confirmed an earlier inspection at the market on December 25, 2019.

It was revealed that Chinese officials were examining the market for illegal wildlife trade on that day, which was not previously disclosed by Chinese authorities or the WHO. This investigation could have provided crucial evidence on how COVID-19 crossed from animals to humans if animal samples were collected.

The AP investigation also shed light on the silencing of Chinese scientists. Zhang Yongzhen, the first scientist to publish the sequence of the COVID-19 virus, faced consequences for urging health authorities to act quickly. One day after his memo, China's top health official ordered his lab to be closed. Zhang described how his colleagues and he faced official power being used against them.

Furthermore, it appeared that the Chinese government was looking for a scapegoat within its own ranks, as investigations were initiated into top health officials. However, instead of holding those officials accountable and implementing genuine reforms, the government declared their virus response a success and closed the investigations with minimal job losses.

The AP investigation also highlighted the influence exerted by China in controlling the terms and agenda of WHO missions to investigate COVID-19. China's Foreign Ministry, not the scientific community, had the final say in negotiations and decided the terms of the missions. Liang Wannian, an epidemiologist close to top Chinese officials, played a significant role in the WHO visit, promoting an unlikely theory of COVID-19 originating from frozen food imported into China.

Liang's involvement in pushing the party line rather than science-backed policies raised concerns among those familiar with the situation. During a train ride with Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Liang lobbied the agency to promote China's response in the public report. As a result, the report included a section that was so flattering to China that colleagues suggested toning it down.

In subsequent investigations, the origins hunt became highly politicized, and efforts to find the truth were hindered. Liang organized Wuhan market workers to provide misinformation to the WHO team, denying the sale of live wildlife, while removing recent photos of wildlife from the report.

The WHO team concluded that a lab leak was "extremely unlikely," but months later, the WHO chief, Tedros, stated that it was premature to rule out the possibility and called for China to be more transparent. This infuriated Chinese officials, leading them to inform the WHO that any future missions to find the origins of COVID-19 should be conducted elsewhere.

Since then, global cooperation on investigating the origins of the pandemic has come to a standstill, with uncertainties surrounding China's willingness to cooperate fully. The revelations from the AP investigation have highlighted the political and bureaucratic complexities that have hindered the search for the truth about the origins of COVID-19.