This smacked of being a cover-up job from the get-go. Now that details of the investigation have been released (paywall) that initial impression is confirmed. The details were snuck out under cover of the US election.

Promoted as an 'independent, transparent investigation by scientific experts', the actual investigation is the opposite of that.

In fact there's a distinct pattern emerging with WHO's pronouncements - whatever they say you can assume the opposite is true.

Here are some facts about the investigation:

1. Most of the scientists are Chinese - appointed by the CCP.

2. Those foreign scientists that have been accepted to participate were appointed by WHO and vetted by the CCP.

3. Even then, those foreign scientists are not allowed in the country! They are conducting their 'investigation' via Zoom calls with the Chinese scientists. They may be allowed in later

4. WHO refuses to release the names of the foreign scientists involved. (Nobody, including Nature, seems to think that's weird.)

5. Investigation of a possible leak from an Wuhan lab is strictly forbidden.

6. The investigation will also focus on origin scenarios outside China. (Nothing necessarily wrong with that but worrying considering the ban on investigating lab leaks inside China)

7. All 'findings' must be approved by the CCP.

The origins of the most destructive, disruptive event of our times will be reduced to a narrative writing exercise. A handful of anonymous CCP-approved foreign scientists, who have long since sold-out any ethical fortitude to the CCP, will rubberstamp it. It will then be presented to the world as a definitive, independent, transparent investigation.

The narrative will include a fanciful speculation of transmission through an intermediate species, possibly outside China. (It's interesting to note that it's taken as fact that SARS originated from civets - even though there's no definitive proof of that - it was just a hypothesis that gained traction. In fact Batwoman still maintains that it probably came directly from bats.)

The media will faithfully print the narrative and label anyone who raises questions as conspiracy theorists. We will be told to listen to the (anonymous) experts. The media will refuse to print dissenting voices (expert or otherwise). End of story.