Commentary From the moment COVID-19 appeared, the pandemic became inseparable from politics. Political frenzy was inevitable since the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have escaped from a level-4 security virology lab in Wuhan, China. The rapid-fire spread soon threatened to indict the Chinese communist government for nearly destroying the world economy and killing millions. Western elites, in response, feared that their own lucrative investments in China would be jeopardized by such disclosures—and so acted accordingly in defending Beijing. Nonetheless, one scenario that remains intriguing is that the escaped virus was birthed by gain-of-function research scientists, overseen by elements of the Chinese communist military. Worse, the lab was given subsidies by U.S. health authorities, routed through third parties. Hiding all of that damaging information warped government policy and media coverage. Belatedly, a panicked China shut down all domestic travel in and out of Wuhan—but not flights abroad to Western Europe and the United …