What Really Happened in Wuhan

1. Early Warnings and China's Deliberate Cover-up

It’s extraordinary that a virus was taking lives for up to eight weeks before global health authorities caught wind of it.

Secret spread. As early as November 2019, a deadly new virus was spreading stealthily in Wuhan, known to insiders like dissident Wei Jingsheng who alerted contacts in Washington DC. Doctors on the ground, like Dr. Wang Lei and Ai Fen, saw a surge in pneumonia-like cases by early December, quickly suspecting a new coronavirus. However, they were forbidden from speaking out.

Official denial. Despite mounting evidence and lab results confirming a SARS-like virus by late December, Chinese authorities insisted there was no human-to-human transmission and downplayed the severity. This denial persisted for weeks, even as bodies piled up in hospitals and medical staff fell ill. The government actively censored social media and news reports mentioning the virus.

Evidence destruction. China's cover-up included destroying early virus samples from genomics companies and shutting down the Huanan Seafood Market on January 1, 2020, disinfecting it and eliminating potential forensic evidence. This deliberate obfuscation prevented a timely global response and deprived foreign governments of crucial information.

2. Brave Whistleblowers Silenced and Disappeared

The true number of whistleblowers who were detained or have simply vanished may never be known.

Doctors forbidden. Medical professionals in Wuhan, witnessing the unfolding crisis and human-to-human transmission, were explicitly ordered not to discuss the virus to avoid causing panic. Those who tried to warn others, like Dr. Li Wenliang and Dr. Ai Fen, faced reprimands and punishment for "spreading rumors."

Citizen journalists vanish. As the official narrative downplayed the crisis, brave individuals like lawyer Chen Qiushi and journalist Li Zehua traveled to Wuhan to report the truth, documenting overcrowded hospitals, piling bodies, and government censorship. They risked their lives to show the world what was happening.

Disappearances and punishment. Many who spoke out or tried to preserve information critical of the government's handling of the pandemic faced severe repercussions.

• Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin disappeared after reporting from Wuhan.
• Li Zehua was arrested on camera and held for weeks.
• Academics like Xu Zhiyong and Xu Zhangrun were detained or fired for criticizing Xi Jinping.
• Ren Zhiqiang, a real estate tycoon, was sentenced to 18 years after criticizing Xi.
• Young archivists were arrested for saving deleted online information.

3. US and WHO Initially Downplay the Threat

The WHO was, as it turns out, the instrumentality of the Chinese Communist Party, in our view, and were simply a mouthpiece for whatever China was saying.

Delayed US response. Despite early warnings from dissidents and CDC officials, the US government's initial response was slow and disjointed. The first NSC meeting on Covid-19 wasn't held until January 14, 2020, weeks after the virus was known to be spreading. President Trump publicly downplayed the threat, calling it "totally under control."

WHO echoes China. The World Health Organization, heavily influenced by China, repeatedly praised Beijing's transparency and advised against travel restrictions, contradicting the reality on the ground. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's praise of China's handling of the outbreak was seen by many as enabling the cover-up.

• WHO advised against travel or trade restrictions on China.
• Tedros praised China's "transparency" despite evidence of censorship.
• The WHO delayed declaring a pandemic until March 11, 2020.

Internal US debate. Within the Trump administration, there were conflicting views on the severity of the virus and the need for drastic measures like travel bans. Public health officials initially resisted travel restrictions, while figures like Matt Pottinger and Peter Navarro pushed for stronger action, often facing skepticism from colleagues.

4. The Wuhan Institute of Virology Emerges as a Suspicious Origin

The very city where the outbreak began is home to a Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) virology laboratory genetically manipulating coronaviruses in a dangerous way.

Geographic coincidence. The outbreak began in Wuhan, home to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), China's only BSL-4 laboratory and a major center for bat coronavirus research. This proximity immediately raised questions for some, including US officials like Miles Yu and Mike Pompeo.

Early suspicions. As China resisted international offers of assistance and blocked access to Wuhan, suspicions grew about what they were hiding. This lack of transparency, particularly regarding the WIV, fueled the hypothesis that the virus might have originated there, either naturally collected and leaked or as a result of research.

WIV's risky work. The WIV was known to be conducting extensive research on bat coronaviruses, including collecting samples from remote caves and genetically manipulating viruses to study their potential to infect humans (gain-of-function research). This work, often conducted at lower biosafety levels, presented inherent risks of accidental release.

5. Evidence: Sick Lab Workers and Deleted Data

Incredibly, no one had tasked the intelligence community dissemination, let alone unearthed, flagged or understood the significance of this intelligence report until this moment.

Illness in the lab. Classified US intelligence, later partially declassified, revealed that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill in November 2019 with symptoms consistent with Covid-19, requiring hospital care. This occurred weeks before the official acknowledgment of the outbreak.

Database disappearance. The WIV's online database of virus samples and sequences, administered by Shi Zhengli, was taken offline in September 2019, just before the suspected first cases. This database contained details of thousands of virus samples, including unpublished sequences. The WIV claimed it was due to hacking attempts, but the timing was highly suspicious.

Deleted sequences. Early genetic sequences from Wuhan patients, uploaded to the NIH Sequence Read Archive, were later deleted. A scientist was able to recover this data, finding that the earliest sequences were not the most similar to bat coronaviruses, a perplexing observation that warrants further investigation.

6. Evidence: Risky Gain-of-Function Research and Military Ties

The Chinese military and Communist Party experts, even in televised appearances, for years had made it known that synthetic biology was going to be a very dangerous potential vector for biological weapons in the future.

Gain-of-function. The WIV was actively engaged in gain-of-function research, genetically manipulating coronaviruses to enhance their transmissibility and virulence, often using techniques that leave no trace of human intervention. This research, aimed at predicting and preparing for pandemics, was controversial and paused in the US under Obama due to its risks.

Military connections. The WIV had significant ties to the Chinese military, collaborating on publications and secret projects since at least 2017. Senior PLA scientists, including those with expertise in bioweapons, were involved with the WIV and discussed the potential for coronaviruses as genetic weapons.

• A PLA colonel sat on the WIV board.
• Military scientists discussed "racial-specific genetic attacks."
• A PLA scientist working with Shi Zhengli patented a Covid-19 vaccine remarkably early.

Bioweapons concerns. China's official submission to the 2011 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention listed research fields like "Creation of Man-Made Pathogens" and "Population-specific Genetic Markers," acknowledging the dual-use nature of biotechnology and the potential for creating pathogens of greater toxicity and infectiousness. This raised concerns about China's biowarfare compliance.

7. Scientists Suppress Debate and Dismiss Lab Leak as Conspiracy

It was illogical that 27 scientists would dismiss this possibility as a “conspiracy theory” and “misinformation”.

Early dismissal. Shortly after the outbreak, a group of prominent scientists published a letter in The Lancet dismissing the possibility of a laboratory origin as a "conspiracy theory" and "misinformation," despite lacking conclusive evidence. This letter significantly shaped the public narrative and discouraged open debate.

Conflicts of interest. The Lancet letter was organized by Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance, which funded research at the WIV. Several signatories had financial or collaborative ties to the WIV or related research, yet failed to disclose these conflicts, undermining the credibility of their statement.

Journal censorship. Scientific journals and pre-print servers reportedly blocked or delayed the publication of papers that questioned the natural origin theory, further stifling scientific debate and preventing alternative hypotheses from gaining traction. This created a false sense of scientific consensus.

8. Conflicts of Interest Undermine Independent Inquiry

It is beyond comprehension to appoint someone to investigate the origins of Covid-19 who has personally worked, for 15 years, with the very people whose laboratory may be responsible for leaking the virus.

Daszak's role. Peter Daszak, a long-term collaborator and funder of the WIV, played a central role in promoting the natural origin theory and dismissing the lab leak hypothesis as a conspiracy. His appointment to the WHO investigation into the origins of the virus was a significant conflict of interest.

WHO's compromised inquiry. The WHO investigation was criticized for its lack of independence and access, with China vetting participants and withholding crucial data. Several WHO team members had pre-existing relationships with Chinese institutions or officials, raising concerns about their impartiality.

• Peter Daszak, a WIV collaborator, was a key investigator.
• Some investigators had ties to China's CDC or military institutions.
• The team spent only three hours at the WIV.
• The WIV database and early patient data were not provided.

Lack of transparency. EcoHealth Alliance, which received significant US funding for coronavirus research in China, resisted providing information related to the WIV and the outbreak, even mocking requests from the NIH. This lack of transparency from a US-funded organization further fueled suspicions.

9. Political Interference and Lack of Transparency Hamper Investigation

The Chinese Communist Party’s culpability in deliberately covering up the virus instead of alerting the world is a crime as shameful and abhorrent as the Tiananmen Square massacre.

China's obstruction. The Chinese government actively obstructed investigations into the origins of the virus, silencing whistleblowers, destroying evidence, and refusing access to international experts and data. This deliberate lack of transparency is a major reason the origin remains uncertain.

US internal friction. Within the US government, efforts to investigate the lab leak hypothesis faced bureaucratic resistance and political interference. A State Department team investigating potential links to China's bioweapons program encountered pushback from colleagues who dismissed their concerns as conspiracy theories or politically motivated.

Politicization of the issue. The origins debate became highly politicized, particularly in the US, where it was often framed through the lens of domestic politics and the Trump administration. This politicization made it difficult for scientists and officials to discuss the issue objectively without facing accusations of bias.

10. The Case for a Lab Leak Based on Circumstantial and Scientific Evidence

If you look at the evidence coldly, the likelihood is this is an escape from a laboratory, and it’s up to the Chinese to demonstrate conclusively to us that it isn’t, not to just tell us.

Compelling circumstances. A confluence of circumstantial evidence points towards a potential lab leak:

• The WIV's location in Wuhan, the outbreak epicenter.
• The WIV's extensive collection and manipulation of bat coronaviruses.
• Poor safety standards and lack of oversight at Chinese labs.
• Unusual activity at the WIV in late 2019 (database offline, blackout, sick workers).
• China's aggressive cover-up and obstruction of inquiry.

Scientific anomalies. Some scientists highlight unusual features of the SARS-CoV-2 genome that are consistent with laboratory manipulation, although not definitive proof.

• The presence of a furin cleavage site, rare in related coronaviruses, which enhances infectivity.
• The virus's high binding affinity to human ACE2 receptors from the start.
• The genetic similarity to viruses studied at the WIV, like RaTG13.

Shift in consensus. Despite initial dismissals, the lab leak hypothesis gained credibility over time as more evidence emerged and the natural origin theory lacked definitive proof. By 2021, even the WHO Director-General acknowledged the need for further investigation into a lab origin.

Last updated: May 22, 2025