Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, April 13, 2021. /CFP
美国政府顶级传染病专家安东尼·福奇博士日前公开表示，多年来，与美国国立卫生研究院展开合作的，来自武汉病毒研究所的中国科学家是“合格”且“备受尊敬的”。Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious diseases expert, said the Chinese scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) that the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) collaborated with over the years are "qualified" and "highly respected."His latest comments come when the western media are hyping another round of conspiracy theories that the novel coronavirus was made and leaked from a lab, an allegation that has been repeatedly refuted and condemned by global scientists since last year.日前，福奇与美国肯塔基州共和党参议员兰德·保罗就美国国立卫生研究院与武汉病毒研究所的合作展开了争论。保罗声称福奇领导的美国国立卫生研究院“资助”武汉病毒研究所等中国实验室进行“功能获得研究”，一再鼓吹“新冠病毒来自中国实验室”的阴谋论。所谓的“功能获得研究”，是指对病毒赋予属性，增强其致病性或传播性，以便更好地了解病原体并开发疫苗。The NIH has been working with the WIV on bat coronavirus research. Because of the scientific collaboration, Fauci was dragged into a recent debate with Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, who accused the NIH of funding "gain-of-function" with the Chinese lab.Gain-of-function research involves altering a pathogen, usually a bacterium or virus, in a way that increases its transmissibility, in order to better understand the pathogen and develop vaccines.福奇在接受福克斯新闻采访时坚决否认了这一指控，并为中国科学家的信誉进行了辩护。
“这项研究的目的非常、非常明确。它试图确定在蝙蝠种群中有什么可能是对人类有风险的。这是在试图找出新冠病毒确切的发源环境，有助于预防病毒，”福奇说。
In an interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox News, Fauci resolutely denied the accusation and defended the integrity of the Chinese scientists."The purpose of the research was very, very clear. It was to try to determine what was out there in the bat population that might be ultimately risky for us. It was done in the context of trying to find out what the precise environmental bat source was of SARS-CoV-2 so that we could prevent SARS-CoV-2," he said."If you look at the research that was done, it was research that was highly recommended by peer review, our United States peer reviews. It got a very high score in the peer review system," he noted.He stressed that the research was done by qualified people. "… you're dealing with qualified, highly respected Chinese scientists. So it isn't what was made out to be about dealing with really, really bad people. Because those scientists were very well-respected in the scientific community internationally," he said.Debate between Fauci and Paul
Top American infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci responds to accusations by Senator Rand Paul as he testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about the origins of COVID-19, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 20, 2021. /AP
在这个问题上，福奇与兰德·保罗的“交锋”已经持续了数月。
今年5月11日，保罗在美国国会听证会上宣称，美国国立卫生研究院对武汉病毒研究所进行“功能获得研究”提供了资助。彼时福奇就已经坚决否认了保罗的指控，表示美国国立卫生研究院“从来没有、现在也不会资助所谓的‘功能获得研究’”。In May, when Paul alleged that the NIH offered grants to the Wuhan lab for "gain-of-function" experiments, Fauci told him that "The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."但保罗一再重提此事。上周二，保罗在听证会上暗示福奇撒了谎，试图延续两个月前的争议。福奇当场反驳称自己“从未撒过谎”，并斥责了对方。
“保罗参议员，坦率地说，你根本不知道你在说什么，”福奇说，“我现在再正式说一遍，你根本不知道自己在说什么。”
“如果说这里真的有什么人在撒谎，那也是你，”他补充道。
Paul brought the issue up again during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, citing a November 2017 scientific study co-authored by WIV researcher Shi Zhengli and other Chinese scientists."This paper that you are referring to was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain-of-function," Fauci replied."Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially. You do not know what you are talking about," the expert told the senator.此前，保罗曾多次发表“感染新冠可以实现群体免疫”“戴口罩会传播病毒”等反科学言论，还曾公开质疑美国疾控中心关于疫苗接种和限制集会的指导意见。It's not the first time that Paul has clashed with the medical expert on COVID-19. In March, he told Fauci that vaccinated people wearing masks was just "theater." He has repeatedly dismissed CDC guidance on vaccines and restrictions on public gatherings.