US lawmakers claim to have seen new ‘credible’ information suggesting Covid leaked from a Chinese lab and that Beijing covered it up.
The members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic say they have also seen strong evidence that China’s military was involved in experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV.
They viewed details in classified documents from the US State Department, which advises the president on foreign policy.
Rep.
Brad Wenstrup, a Republican from Ohio and the committee’s chair, has called for the information to be immediately declassified and unredacted to give the public “a more complete picture of the government’s evidence regarding the origin of the Covid pandemic.” He stated that the documents first released in redacted versions in June 2023 contain information suggesting Covid may have resulted from a lab-related accident in Wuhan, China.
They also indicate that the Chinese government impeded investigations into the matter and that the Chinese military was involved in experiments at the WIV.
In his letter, Rep.
Wenstrup wrote: “As mounting evidence continues to point to a lab related accident in Wuhan, China as the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, safely removing these superfluous redactions is a step towards transparency and accountability.” He added: “We write to you today to request that you immediately take steps to declassify this information such that the American people have a more complete picture of the government’s evidence regarding the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.” In February 2023, the subcommittee requested information from the State Department related to the Covid origin investigation but only recently reviewed classified versions.
The documents include State Department cables and include emails and internal discussions about classified research at the WIV.
Almost all of the information in the cables, including email contents and contacts of senders and recipients, have been redacted.
Because the public version is so heavily redacted, it is difficult to determine what exactly is in them.
However, the limited information appears to suggest the US had evidence that the WIV was conducting risky experiments with the military and Chinese officials had more information about the virus than they admitted to.
In Rep.
Wenstrup’s letter, he wrote that the documents showed “numerous, highly suggestive subject lines,” including: “‘Initial Outbreak Could Have Been Contained in China if Beijing Had Not Covered It Up.’ Others said: ‘[Redacted] Says PRC Central Government — Not Local Officials — Responsible for the Coronavirus Cover-Up’ and ‘Beijing Knew Earlier than They Admit.’ Several mention the Chinese government’s cover-up, propaganda and disinformation campaigns.
Others show a possible connection between the WIV and PLA, including: “‘Official Chinese Websites Show Robust Cooperation between WIV and PLA [Academy of Military Medical Sciences].’ Recently, it was revealed that US officials may have sent taxpayer money to fund such risky research at the Chinese lab despite knowing the military was involved.
Disgraced researcher Dr Peter Daszak suggested to the subcommittee that the US intelligence community was aware of coronavirus experiments carried out at the WIV years before the pandemic, and the government sent money to the Chinese facility despite concerns it was being used by the Chinese government to manufacture potential bioweapons.
