A new report suggests that U.S. investigators suspect the COVID-19 virus may have originated from Chinese military bioweapon research. According to investigators from the U.S. State Department, there is growing suspicion regarding the role of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). The Chinese military collaborated with the lab to conduct virus experiments, which began showing promising results in mutating pathogens in 2016.
Investigators found that the research papers related to the WIV started to become less accessible after the military’s involvement, coinciding with the initiation of a classified program. In 2012, WIV researchers investigated an abandoned copper mine in the Mojiang region of China, where six researchers fell ill and three died after handling bat guano. However, this information was concealed from EcoHealth Alliance, which was collaborating with the institute, and the U.S. government, which funded EcoHealth and indirectly supported the WIV.
Strains of coronavirus were discovered in the Mojiang cave, some of which closely resemble COVID-19. However, the links to the cave were obscured after the COVID-19 outbreak, and Chinese authorities strictly guarded the cave. Investigators believe that Mojiang was covered up due to military secrecy surrounding the army’s pursuit of dual-use capabilities in virological biological weapons and vaccines.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology’s involvement in the creation, spread, and cover-up of the COVID-19 pandemic has become increasingly evident, according to investigators. One popular theory among the U.S. investigators is that the Chinese military aimed to develop a bioweapon using weaponized coronavirus while simultaneously creating a vaccine for their own population. Evidence suggests that WIV researchers were working on a COVID-19 vaccine as early as November 2019, months before the global outbreak.
While tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated, the Biden administration seeks to de-escalate the situation. The revelations of Chinese military involvement at the WIV, both before and during the pandemic, come at a time when efforts are being made to ease tensions. The deterioration of China-U.S. relations earlier this year, highlighted by the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon crossing the continental United States, further fueled concerns. These recent findings raise significant questions about the origins of COVID-19 and the extent of China’s involvement.
