Despite widespread denials, China may have deliberately engineered coronavirus as a “bioweapon.” The explosive claim comes from Chao Shan, a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). He recently revealed shocking details about his work on SARS-CoV-2 in an exclusive interview with Jennifer Zeng. He said his superiors tasked him and his colleagues with identifying the most effective strain for spreading among various species, including humans.
The researchers would conduct experiments to determine which virus could infect the most animals and spread the fastest. They also tinkered with the genetic code of the viruses to make them more dangerous. Chao claims he was given four different coronavirus strains to test, and his team was instructed to identify the one that could spread most effectively.
His revelations have sparked alarm in the US and China. A senior State Department official wrote an open letter saying that the COVID-19 pandemic was likely caused by tinkering with a deadly pathogen at the WIV, which contains China’s only Level 4 biosafety lab. The official also alleged that the lab collaborated on secret projects with China’s military.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, the former assistant secretary for international security and nonproliferation, Christopher Ford, published a similar statement denying that China intentionally tampered with the virus. Still, he admitted that the Wuhan Institute had long been the subject of US concerns about Beijing’s lack of transparency about its past research on biological weapons. The former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also defended the US government’s refusal to sever ties with the laboratory and said that he had advised Miles Yu, an expert on Chinese defense policy at the Heritage Foundation, to keep the White House out of the inquiry into the origins of the outbreak.
While virologists may argue over the validity of Yan’s claims, her view that the coronavirus was cooked in a lab is becoming increasingly popular. It is important to remember that biological weapons are uniquely threatening because, unlike other weapons, they can be used against an enemy’s troops or civilian population and cause significant unintended side effects. Moreover, diseases have no discrimination techniques, so minor intentional release can quickly become a global catastrophe.
