Getting to the bottom of this is important not merely for assigning blame — there will be plenty of that to go around — but so that we can learn lessons going forward. If we cannot trust anything the Chinese regime said at the start, how can we base our actions on what they say now? We don’t know how much of the medical data coming out China is accurate even today. Relying on it in any way is foolish and dangerous, the equivalent of relying on the faulty tests and equipment China has been sending out as part of its propaganda push in the wake of the virus’s deadly spread.