Pandemic May Have Been Caused by Bioweapon Research Accident in China: Former State Department Investigator
Pandemic May Have Been Caused by Bioweapon Research Accident in China: Former State Department Investigator
Pandemic May Have Been Caused by Bioweapon Research Accident in China: Former State Department Investigator
“This has turned out to be the greatest weapon in history. You’ve taken out 15 to 20 percent of global GDP. You’ve killed millions of people.”
The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. A lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists have conducted extensive research on bat coronaviruses, has long been speculated to be the source of the outbreak, possibly due to an accidental leak.
That theory was declared “extremely unlikely” by World Health Organization (WHO) expert Peter Ben Embarek on Feb. 8, following a two-week fact-finding mission in Wuhan. However, within days, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appeared to walk back the statement, saying that “all hypotheses remain open and require further study.”
A fact sheet released by the U.S. State Department in January stated that it “had reason to believe” several researchers at the institute fell ill with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses in autumn 2019. A senior researcher at the institute said in July 2020 there was “zero infection” among lab staff and students.
Asher noted that China stopped talking publicly about its research at the Wuhan lab in 2016. He recalled that in 2016, he heard a Chinese military commentator speak on China’s state-run media about how China has “entered into an area of Chinese biowarfare … including using things like viruses.”
“They made a public statement to their people that this is a new priority under [Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s] national security policy,” Asher said.
He said he doubted this was a coincidence and added that 2016 could be the year when the Chinese military became involved in biological programs at the Wuhan lab.
The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. A lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists have conducted extensive research on bat coronaviruses, has long been speculated to be the source of the outbreak, possibly due to an accidental leak.
That theory was declared “extremely unlikely” by World Health Organization (WHO) expert Peter Ben Embarek on Feb. 8, following a two-week fact-finding mission in Wuhan. However, within days, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appeared to walk back the statement, saying that “all hypotheses remain open and require further study.”
A fact sheet released by the U.S. State Department in January stated that it “had reason to believe” several researchers at the institute fell ill with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses in autumn 2019. A senior researcher at the institute said in July 2020 there was “zero infection” among lab staff and students.
Asher noted that China stopped talking publicly about its research at the Wuhan lab in 2016. He recalled that in 2016, he heard a Chinese military commentator speak on China’s state-run media about how China has “entered into an area of Chinese biowarfare … including using things like viruses.”
“They made a public statement to their people that this is a new priority under [Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s] national security policy,” Asher said.
He said he doubted this was a coincidence and added that 2016 could be the year when the Chinese military became involved in biological programs at the Wuhan lab.
