U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the new coronavirus was ‘not manmade or genetically modified’ but say they are still examining whether the origins of the pandemic trace to contact with infected animals or an accident at a Chinese lab.
The statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the clearinghouse for the web of U.S. spy agencies, comes as President Donald Trump and his allies have touted the as-yet-unproven theory that an infectious disease lab in Wuhan, the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak, was the source of the global pandemic that has killed more than 220,000 worldwide.
The statement was made shortly after claims surfaced in the New York Times that intelligence analysts were concerned that intelligence could be distorted to fit a pre-determined conclusion.
In recent days the Trump administration has sharpened his rhetoric on China, accusing the geopolitical foe and vital trading partner of failing to do act swiftly enough to stop the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 or sound the alarm to the world about the outbreak.
‘The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,’ said the statement.
Still investigating: The U.S. intelligence community says it is probing whether the coronavirus could have leaked by accident from this laboratory in Wuhan
Proximity: The virus has been linked to the wet market in Wuhan, which sold wildlife for meat. U.S. officials have highlighted it being a ‘few miles’ from the virology laboratory
Mystery: The path for the coronavirus getting into human beings remains unclear despite advances in knowledge of the virus itself seen (left) in a simulation and (right) under an electron microscope
‘The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.’
Trump addressed the theory earlier this month, saying, ‘More and more, we’re hearing the story.’ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added, ‘The mere fact that we don’t know the answers – that China hasn’t shared the answers – I think is very, very telling.’
Pompeo also pressed China to let outside experts into the lab ‘so that we can determine precisely where this virus began.’
Scientists say the virus arose naturally in bats.
Even so, Pompeo and others have pointed fingers at an institute that is run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It has done groundbreaking research tracing the likely origins of the SARS virus, finding new bat viruses and discovering how they could jump to people.
‘We know that there is the Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was,’ Pompeo said two weeks ago. The institute has an address 8 miles, or 13 kilometers, from the market.
U.S. officials say the American Embassy in Beijing flagged concerns about potential safety issues at the lab in Wuhan in 2018, but have yet to find any evidence the virus originated there nearly two years later.
Questions: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month: ‘The mere fact that we don’t know the answers – that China hasn’t shared the answers – I think is very, very telling.’
The Chinese government said Thursday that any claims that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory are ‘unfounded and purely fabricated out of nothing.’
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang cited the institute’s director, Yuan Zhiming, as saying the lab strictly implements bio-security procedures that would prevent the release of any pathogen.
‘I would like to point out again that the origin of the virus is a complex scientific issue, and it should be studied by scientists and professionals,’ Geng said.
Geng also criticized U.S. politicians who have suggested China should be held accountable for the global pandemic, saying they should spend their time on ‘better controlling the epidemic situation at home.’
But a Chinese government spokesman, Zhao Lijian, demonstrated that China was not above sowing confusion in the face of the pandemic. He tweeted in March the falsehood that the virus might have come from the U.S. Army.
If the Trump administration were to find evidence that firmly established a link to the Chinese government laboratory, it would bolster its case for ‘reparations’ which Trump as made in public this week.
He said Wednesday that the U.S. will be taking strong action against China as he ordered investigations into Beijing after claiming they knew about the coronavirus threat earlier than let on and could have done more to stop the pandemic.
‘We’re coming up with a very distinct recommendation. But we’re not happy with it,’ Trump said of potential economic consequences against China.
‘There’s nothing positive about what happened in China having to do with this subject. Nothing positive at all,’ the president said.
‘We’re lucky that we stopped it in January flowing into our country from China,’ Trump said, lauding his decision to shut down travel from China to the U.S. earlier this year – aside from allowing U.S. citizens to return home.
The president said the World Health Organization was acting like it worked for China, and said he would be issuing a ‘recommendation’ on how to deal with WHO and China.
A Wednesday morning report revealed that the White House ordered intelligence investigations into whether China initially downplayed and hid the emerging coronavirus threat, a Wednesday report revealed, as Donald Trump continues to place blame for the size of the pandemic.
‘It’s coming in and I’m getting pieces already,’ Trump said of the investigations by the NSA, CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency. ‘And we’re not happy about it.’
‘We are by far the largest contributor to WHO – world health. And they misled us,’ he said, confirming he feels WHO also lied about what they knew early on about the virus. ‘I don’t know – they must have known more than they knew.’
‘We knew things that they didn’t know – either they didn’t know or they didn’t tell us,’ he continued. ‘Right now they’re literally a pipe organ for China. That’s the way I view it. So, we’re seeing and we’re looking and we’re watching.’
‘Again we give $500 million – we have over the years – from $400-$500 for a long time, for many years. And China is giving $38 million, and yet they seem to work for China,’ he lamented.
Intelligence agencies received directives from the White House last week seeking information on the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, including communication intercepts, human source reporting and satellite imagery reviews from China and WHO, current and former officials familiar with the directions told NBC News.
One official revealed that the ‘tasking’ was sent last week to the National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency, which includes the National Center for Medical Agency.
The CIA also received a similar request, the officials said.
Why did China build a virus lab in Wuhan?
A worker is seen inside the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan on February 23, 2017
Chinese officials decided to build the Wuhan Institute of Virology after the country was ravaged by an outbreak of SARS in 2002 and 2003.
SARS, another kind of coronavirus, killed 775 people and infected more than 8,000 globally in an epidemic that lasted about eight months.
It took the Chinese 15 years to fully complete the project, which cost a total of 300million yuan (£34million). The French helped design the building.
Its crown jewel is a four-storey lab with the highest biosafety level of P4.
It’s the most advanced laboratory of its type in China.
Construction of the lab was finished in 2015 and it officially opened on January 5, 2018, after passing various safety inspections.
Describing the significance of the P4 lab, China Youth Online billed it as the ‘aircraft carrier of China’s virology’. The state-run newspaper said it ‘is capable of researching the deadliest pathogens’.
One researcher, Zhou Peng, told state news agency Xinhua in 2018: ‘We are proud to say that we are already at the forefront in the field of studying the immunity mechanism of bats, which carry viruses for a long time.
‘Bats carry viruses but are not infected [by them]. [They] provide hope for mankind to study how to fight viruses.’
Top Chinese official calls Donald Trump’s demand for reparations over coronavirus ‘blackmail’ and says U.S. had plenty of notice crisis was coming
China suggested Tuesday that Donald Trump is ‘blackmailing’ them by blaming Beijing for the coronavirus pandemic and demanding it pay compensations to the U.S.
Le Yucheng, China’s Executive Vice Foreign Minister, told NBC News in an interview that aired Wednesday morning that Trump’s demands are ‘preposterous’ and present a ‘political farce.’
‘Asking China to make reparations for these kind of claims – they have no legal basis. There is no international law that supports blaming a country for simply being the first to report a disease,’ Le said.
Trump demanded during his briefing Tuesday that China pay reparations to the U.S. for coronavirus damages, but said a final number for billing had not yet been decided.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he is reassured that other countries are also launching investigations into China’s early handling of coronavirus and demanding compensations – and he dismissed Le’s comments as ‘classic communist disinformation.’
‘What the Chinese Communist Party did here and not preventing the spread of this around the world they’re responsible for, America needs to hold them accountable,’ Pompeo told Fox & Friends Wednesday morning.
China’s Executive Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng (pictured) likened Donald Trump demanding compensation for coronavirus outbreak from China to ‘blackmail’
Trump demanded Monday that China pay compensations for damages caused by coronavirus, which he says could have been avoided if Beijing had been more forthcoming about the severity of the disease
‘I’ve been heartened to see Australia, other countries joining us, demanding an investigation because while we know this started in Wuhan, China,’ he said. ‘We don’t yet know from where it started, and in spite of our best efforts to get experts on the ground, they continue to try and hide and obfuscate. That’s wrong.’
‘It continues to pose a threat to the world, and we all need to get to the bottom of what actually happened here not only for the current instant but to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,’ the State Department head continued.
While Le, 57, said in the interview, which was conducted in Mandarin, that he would not object to scientific investigations into the virus’ origins, he demanded it be kept away from ‘conspiracy theories.’
‘We do not oppose normal communication and mutual learning between scientists,’ he said. ‘What we do oppose is arbitrary investigations based on the presumption of China’s guilt. That is something we firmly oppose.’
Trump has shifted his tone from praising China for its handling of coronavirus, to blaming the Asian nation for exacerbating the severity by failing to be transparent about the disease earlier on in the outbreak.
‘I want to say China has not covered anything up. We did not cause any delay,’ Le said.
He also has lauded his own decision to ban travel from China to the U.S. in the midst of the outbreak despite political pushback since it was early on in the pandemic before the real threat was known.
Le told NBC News that Trump is trying to politicize the virus and rejected any accusations that China tried to cover up the initial outbreak.
Instead, he referred to the pandemic as a ‘natural disaster’ and insisted Beijing cannot be held financially liable for COVID-19.
‘On Jan. 23 when Wuhan went under lockdown, the United States reported only one confirmed case, but on March 13 when President Trump announced a national emergency, the United States reported over 1,600 confirmed cases,’ Le said in deflecting blame away from Beijing.
‘In this interval of 50 days, what was the U.S. government doing? Where have those 50 days gone?’ he continued.