Donald Trump has declared that he suspects the coronavirus pandemic is linked to a virology lab in China’s Wuhan province. The European response to that accusation has been tepid — no surprise after four years of Trump criticizing Europe on everything from defence to trade policy or ignoring them altogether.
The European Union does not believe COVID-19 originated in Wuhan. It has nevertheless called for an independent post-mortem into whether China’s actions, deliberate or otherwise, have been responsible for the spread of the disease.
Since the First World War, the West has looked to Washington for leadership whenever there is trouble. But relations with the U.S.