You misunderstood that when I said don’t respond, I was referring to only the final bit about the timing of the sudden media interest in the US. To save some headaches for the thread mods.
As to your point, there is plenty of evidence of things that “China did wrong,”without needing there to be a lab leak. I don’t think China wants the World messing around in the lab, I don’t think China wants the World messing around in their markets, and I don’t think China wants the World messing around in their animal, especially the fur animal, trade. If the alternative hypothesis, that this originated in the horrible conditions found in the fur farms, it will be the final nail in fur’s coffin for the International community. China resisted the recommendations concerning animal handling and food, and this becomes another battleground in the “World is coming to destroy China’s way of life.”
Poor conditions for the animals, people have tolerated, in many countries including our own, but reservoirs of disease with potential of setting off global pandemics at a frequency we won’t tolerate is another thing. Problem is, once we accept the danger of these types of farms and slaughtering facilities in China, then the rest of us would have to evaluate how those things operate in our own countries which would not go over well. A lab leak conveniently leaves us off the hook for the need for self-examination and preparation for the next one.