On Friday, Secretary Pompeo issued a statement calling for “ensuring a transparent and thorough investigation into the source of COVID-19 (the Chinese Communist virus)” and pointed directly to the “Wuhan Institute of Virology,” noting that ” The U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers within the Wuhan Institute of Virology became ill in the fall of 2019, before the first confirmed outbreak occurred,” and that “symptoms are consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal diseases.” The statement expressed “doubts about the credibility” of Wuhan Institute of Virology senior researcher Zhengli Shi’s public claims that staff and students at the institute had “zero infections” with the virus in question.
The original statement
Ensure a transparent and thorough investigation into the source of COVID-19.
Press Statement
Michael Pompeo, Secretary of State
January 15, 2021
The United States has repeatedly called for a transparent and thorough investigation into the source of COVID-19. Understanding the origins of this epidemic is critical to global public health, economic recovery and international security.
To assist the important work of the World Health Organization (WHO) investigative team arriving in China this week, the U.S. government today shared new information about activities within the Chinese government’s laboratories in 2019.
In particular, we urge WHO to urge the Chinese government to address the following issues.
- illness at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV): the U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers within the Wuhan Institute of Virology became ill in the fall of 2019, before the first confirmed outbreak occurred, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses. This raises questions about the credibility of Wuhan Institute of Virology senior researcher Zhengli Shi’s public claims that staff and students at the Wuhan Institute of Virology had “zero” SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-associated virus infections.
Wuhan Institute of Virology research on “RaTG13” and “functional acquisition”: Since at least 2016, Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers have studied RaTG13, the closest bat coronavirus sample to SARS-CoV-2 identified by the Wuhan Institute of Virology in January 2020 (96.2% similarity). Since the outbreak, the Wuhan Institute of Virology has not been transparent or consistent in its work with RaTG13 or other similar viruses, including possible “gain-of-function” experiments to increase transmissibility or lethality.
- Secret links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and military research: Although the Wuhan Institute of Virology claims to be a civilian institution, the Wuhan Institute of Virology has collaborated with the CCP military on publications and secret projects. Since at least 2017, the Wuhan Institute of Virology has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese Communist military.
The COVID-19 pandemic could have been avoided. Any responsible country would have invited world health investigators to Wuhan within days of the outbreak. Instead, China rejected offers of help – including from the United States – and punished the brave Chinese doctors, scientists and journalists who tried to alert the world to the dangers of the virus. Beijing continues today to refuse to provide the vital information scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus and the next one.
The United States reiterates the importance of unrestricted access to virus samples, laboratory records and personnel, witnesses and whistle blowers to ensure the credibility of the WHO’s final report. Unless the Chinese Communist Party provides a full and complete explanation of what happened in Wuhan, it is only a matter of time before China produces another pandemic and inflicts it on the Chinese people and the world.
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