Chinese Virologist Claims COVID-19 was Intentionally Manufactured and Released by China

A Chinese virologist, Dr. Li-Meng Yan, one of the first biologists in the world to study the novel coronavirus, has made a shocking new claim that the virus was manufactured and intentionally released by the Chinese government.

“I can present solid, scientific evidence to our audience that this virus… actually is not from nature,” Dr. Yan told Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night. “It is a manmade virus created in a lab.”

Carlson followed up Dr. Yan’s assertion by asking whether she was claiming that “the Chinese government manufactured” the novel coronavirus.

“Yes, exactly. Based on the virus genome… you can see the very unusual characters in their genome which clearly, based on the other evidence they left during the modifications, we can say finally this is exactly the one that comes from their own special bat coronavirus and then targets humans,” Dr. Yan responded.

“What your alleging is shocking more even than I anticipated even when I invited you on,” Carlson remarked. “Do you believe the Chinese government released this intentionally on purpose? Did they do this?” Carlson asked later in the program.

“Yes, of course it’s intentionally,” Dr. Yan responded.

Carlson also noted earlier in the program that Dr. Yan was forced to flee China in April in fear for her life after several other doctors in China who had been studying the virus and tried to warn the world about it “disappeared.”

Dr. Yan published a scientific report on September 14 claiming that the “unusual features” of the novel coronavirus suggest “sophisticated laboratory modification” instead of “natural evolution.”

“The evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 should be a laboratory product created by using bat coronaviruses ZC45 and/or ZXC21 as a template and/or backbone,” the abstract to the study summarizes.

Additionally, the study calls for “an independent investigation” into the “relevant research laboratories.” This reference to research laboratories seems to be directed at China’s only biosafety level four laboratory which is several miles away from the wet market located in Wuhan, China.

It has been accepted by most mainstream media outlets and politicians that the virus originated in the Chinese wet market. However, during the beginning of the pandemic, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., raised concerns about the nearby laboratory. Media outlets like MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and CNN’s Fareed Zakaria ridiculed Sen. Cotton for spreading “conspiracy theories.” Carlson included clips of those two hosts in his Tuesday night program.

According to Dr. Yan, Sen. Cotton may have been right all along.

However, some have questioned Dr. Yan’s legitimacy and raised concerns about her possible ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Investigative journalist Jordan Schachtel asserts that “her credibility is not there” and that “she has been making these claims for months, with little to show for it.”

Twitter recently suspended Dr. Yan’s account, and Carlson alleged during his program Twitter did so at the behest of the Chinese communist government.

Of course, if Dr. Yan’s story is ever confirmed, it would have severe implications for the United States’ national security and trade relationship with China

You can follow this author on Twitter @MettlerZachary

Photo from Fox News/YouTube

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