FBI warned of 'biosecurity risk' after stopping Chinese scientist with virus samples a year before coronavirus crisis
The FBI had warned of concerns over "biosecurity risks" from Chinese scientists’ research in the US after they found virus samples carried in luggage a year before the present novel coronavirus outbreak.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the US now has the highest number of coronavirus affected people (nearing 200,000), while over 4,000 have died. In China, over 82,000 have been affected while the death toll stands at 3,000.
In November 2018, when the pandemic’s reported origin in China was still over a year away, US Customs at Detroit Metro Airport halted a Chinese biologist with three samples in his luggage that were labeled "antibodies". The biologist told the border control that someone he worked with in China asked him to deliver the vials to a researcher stationed at an institute in the US, Daily Mail reported.
Customs agents examined the writing on the vials and concluded that they suspected the containers might have MERS or SARS materials.
Yahoo News received an unclassified report from the FBI to say, “Inspection of the writing on the vials and the stated recipient led inspection personnel to believe the materials contained within the vials may be viable Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) materials.”
The report, penned by the Chemical and Biological Intelligence Unit of the investigative agency’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, does not mention the name of the Chinese scientist carrying the samples or who was its recipient on the US soil. In the US, the WMDD assesses foreign scientific researchers who carry "undeclared and undocumented" biological materials into the country that "almost certainly present a biological risk".
According to the FBI, that very incident along with two other instances mentioned in the report was part of something alarming. The Daily Mail report even cited one professor of global biosecurity who said that the FBI appears to be worried with research that would be used for bioterrorism.
Coronavirus outbreak puts Chinese research under scanner
Concerns over China flouting rules of biosafety are not new but the outbreak of the pandemic has soured the relations between the US and China.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked China calling the coronavirus a “Chinese Virus” which Beijing has objected to and counter challenged saying it was the US military that spread the virus in China during the Military World Games in Wuhan last October.
Economically, the pandemic could be a game-changer in US-China relations. Despite his accusations against China, Trump would not like to see Beijing backtracking on its trade deal commitment of buying agricultural produce from Washington.
According to an analysis by CNN, Trump knows very well that the economic well-being is critical for his re-election and with the economy facing a massive challenge of falling flat, China deciding to backtrack on its buying promises could have long-term consequences for his political future.
Over 860,000 people have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic globally while over 42,000 lives have been lost.