I lean towards an accidental lab-exit. Using the same lab-origin reasoning whereby a super-contagious coronavirus emerges right-next-door to a lab engineering super-contagious coronaviruses - if i was going to deliberately release it, i wouldn’t do it right-next-door to the same lab that engineered it. I’d do it in Hong Kong. Or New York. Or Xinjiang. Anywhere but Wuhan. (Not to say it wasn’t being groomed as a weapon. As we know, all top-security biodefense/weapons labs are dual purpose.) As such, i’ve been reluctant to canvass the ‘deliberate’ scenario due to a ‘muddying-of-the-waters’ effect.

However, if we've learned anything along the journey it's this: Don’t dismiss anything. A proper investigation demands all options be considered.

Here are some nagging points why it may have been deliberate.

Revenge: The United Front Work Department/One-everything network would have felt threatened by the pivot-away from China under the Trump administration, which in turn, rose to power on the back of a growing anti-globalization movement - inspired by Clinton’s charisma-less globalization agenda.

Trump was an egotist who wrong-footed a long line of opponents through the simple tactic of upsetting the apple-cart.

Actions attract attention/reactions. Create their own swirling universe. The media became obsessed with the guy - totally the wrong tactic. On one side Fox was warily praising him - on the other even more time was devoted to attacking him. Either way he had everyone focused on him - they fell into his black-hole - exactly as he wanted. (note: both sides 'sold a lot of papers')

By reacting, rather than thinking originally, the neo-lib/United Front influencers backed themselves into irrational and indefensible positions based on: ‘He said this - i’m going to take the opposite position!’ - forget about whether it’s right or wrong.

Trapped inside that funk, burning with hatred, did the release of a bio-weapon offer a way to fight back? It did work, if that was the goal. Your arch enemy - cruising towards a second term - removed from office - due to Covid.

Thucydides Trap: The CCP may have decided war was inevitable (Thucydides Trap). It could well be. The depth of righteous injustice that many Chinese feel with regard to their historical mistreatment by the West and Japan should not be underestimated. The bully forgets quicker than the bullied. China was the victim of bio-weapons during WW2 at the hands of the Japanese. Most Chinese also believe the US employed bio-warfare (p24) during the Korean War. If you have determined war is inevitable, then this, potentially, provides justification for getting on the front foot by releasing Covid.

Hong Kong: Pre-Covid, the HK protest was at its zenith. Beijing was faced with the prospect of compromise (actually, just stick to the One-county Two-systems deal) - or another Tiananmen Square. Covid succeeded in crushing the protest without a shot being fired - which is the ultimate goal in Sun Tzu's Art of War. The Art of War is not merely some pop-Sino buzz-phrase - it’s a core, ‘long-march’ tactic - also embodied by the United Front Work Department's creeping influence.