Covid-19 is an 'unrestricted bioweapon': Virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan accuses China of fabricating genomic sequence
Chinese virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan from Hong Kong, who has repeatedly questioned the origin of the coronavirus, has published a new study claiming that Covid-19 is an “unrestricted bioweapon” and that the current pandemic is a result of “unrestricted biowarfare.” According to her, records indicate that the “unleashing of this weaponized pathogen” should have been intentional rather than accidental. The report alleges that novel coronaviruses do not exist in nature and their genomic sequences are results of fabrication. It suggests that investigations should be carried out on the “suspected government and individuals and the responsible ones be held accountable for this brutal attack on the global community.”
In September, Yan had published a report claiming that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin and was instead developed in a laboratory in China. In that, the authors had said that a follow-up report is now being prepared and will be submitted shortly. Yan now alleges that SARS-COV-2 is a “laboratory product” created by using a template virus (ZC45/ZXC21) owned by military research laboratories under the control of the “Chinese Communist Party government.” Besides, “resources and expertise are all in place in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and related, other CCP-controlled institutions allowing the creation of SARS-CoV-2 in approximately six months,” she states.
“Two possibilities should be considered for the origin of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19): natural evolution or laboratory creation. In our earlier report, we disproved the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 arising naturally through evolution and instead proved that SARS-CoV-2 must have been a product of laboratory modification. Despite this and similar efforts, the laboratory creation theory continues to be downplayed or even diminished. This is fundamental because the natural origin theory remains supported by several novel coronaviruses published after the start of the outbreak,” write authors from the Rule of Law Society & Rule of Law Foundation, New York, in their latest report published on the website Zenodo.
The team further says, “These viruses (the RaTG13 bat coronavirus, a series of pangolin coronaviruses, and the RmYN02 bat coronavirus) reportedly share high sequence homology with SARS-CoV-2 and have altogether constructed a seemingly plausible pathway for the natural evolution of SARS-CoV-2. Here, however, we use in-depth analyses of the available data and literature to prove that these novel animal coronaviruses do not exist in nature and their sequences have been fabricated.” The paper is marked as a “working paper” on the site, which implies that it has not been peer-reviewed.
The authors claim that multiple research laboratories and institutions have engaged in the fabrication and cover-up, and that “this was an operation orchestrated” by the Chinese Communist Party. “Given the CCP’s role here, it is of paramount importance that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is held accountable for its actions. The world needs to find out what other variants of SARS-CoV-2 exist in the CCP-controlled laboratories, whether or not SARS-CoV-2 or its variant(s) are still being actively released, and whether other weaponized pathogens are owned by the CCP as a result of their excessive, state-stimulated efforts in collecting novel animal pathogens and studying their potentials in zoonosis,” they recommend.
According to the team, this virus meets the criteria of a bioweapon, “as described by Dr Ruifu Yang from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS).” They elaborate that in 2005, Yang specified the criteria for a pathogen to qualify as a bioweapon: it is significantly virulent and can cause large scale casualty, it is highly contagious and transmits easily, often through respiratory route in the form of aerosols (the most dangerous scenario would be that it allows human-to-human transmission), and it is relatively resistant to environmental changes, can sustain transportation, and is capable of supporting the targeted release. “All of these have been met by SARS-CoV-2. In addition, Covid-19 has a high rate of asymptomatic transmission, which renders the control of SARS-CoV-2 extremely challenging. The transmissibility, morbidity, and mortality of SARS-CoV-2 also resulted in panic in the global community, disruption of social orders, and decimation of the world’s economy. The range and destructive power of SARS-CoV-2 are both unprecedented. Clearly, SARS-CoV-2 not only meets but also surpasses the standards of a traditional bioweapon. Therefore, it should be defined as an unrestricted bioweapon,” they emphasize.
Scientists have, however, dismissed claims that the new coronavirus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered. In March, a study concluded that Covid-19 is of natural evolution. Dr Andrew Preston, a reader in Microbial Pathogenesis, University of Bath, says that given the unsubstantiated claims made in Yan’s previous report, which has not been peer-reviewed, it cannot be viewed with any credibility as it stands, and that the language of the report is “reminiscent of a conspiracy theory.”
According to Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health, University of Southampton, the conspiracy around deliberate release from a laboratory has been doing the rounds throughout the pandemic and has been rebutted several times. “Ultimately, it could be damaging to public health if reported uncritically without looking at the wider evidence. If people are exposed to and then believe conspiracy theories, this will likely have a negative impact on efforts to keep Covid-19 cases low and thus there will be more death and illness than there needs to be,” he warns.