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A secret service alliance criticizes China and the handling of the corona virus. United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the coronavirus could come from a laboratory in Wuhan.
The “Five Eyes” dossier of the intelligence alliance of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand summarizes the accusations and suspicions, the Australian newspaper “Saturday Telegraph” reported over the weekend.
The file documents the cover-up by the Chinese authorities and points to a risky investigation in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new corona virus first appeared in December. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also made serious accusations against Beijing on Sunday.
The 15-page document “Five Eyes” demonstrates the momentum of the ongoing intelligence investigations. However, according to the newspaper, he also mentions their differences regarding the suspicion that the virus could actually have come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Viruses not artificially generated
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, had caused speculation about it. According to his own statements, Trump has evidence that the pandemic may have originated from that research laboratory in Wuhan. When asked by a reporter if he had information about it that would give him a high degree of certainty, Trump said twice at the White House on Thursday: “Yes, I do.”
Pompeo also said Sunday that US broadcaster ABC had “significant” evidence that the crisis had begun in that laboratory. When asked, he said that he should not comment on the details. However, Pompeo accused China of having operated laboratories in the past without the necessary standards. It is not the first time that the world has been exposed to a virus due to a mistake in a Chinese laboratory.
Wuhan laboratory chief Yuan Zhiming long ago rejected allegations that the coronavirus had been released there. Scientists believe that Sars-CoV-2 is much more likely to have been transmitted to humans from bats through another animal and through the wildlife trade. Therefore, China banned trade in wild animals in March.
Scientists have also shown that the virus is not artificially generated, but rather that it is naturally occurring, US intelligence agencies confirmed last week.
Serious accusations against China
The secret service document “Five Eyes” refers to dangerous investigations in the laboratory using bat viruses, although this was also done in collaboration with American and Australian scientists.
According to the “Saturday Telegraph”, the newspaper forms the basis for the allegations that the secret services are investigating. He notes how Chinese authorities suppressed early medical warnings, downplayed the true scope of the outbreak, and censored the information, which has also appeared in media reports. The cover-up is described in the dossier as an “attack on international transparency”.
He particularly complains that China denied until January 20 that the virus was transmitted from person to person. There have been signs of this since early December, according to the newspaper. China is also accused of destroying virus samples and tightly monitoring scientific publications on the virus. Chinese authorities have also refused to make live samples available to international researchers.
Pompeo threatens to face consequences
Pompeo also accused Chinese leaders of trying to cover them up and confuse them, causing great harm. When asked about the possible consequences for Beijing, he said: “We will hold those responsible accountable.” Meanwhile, other states have also recognized that China caused the crisis.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas did not make accusations against China, but asked the country to make great efforts to clarify the origin of the coronavirus. “Everyone has an interest in clarifying the exact origin of the virus,” the SPD politician told newspapers in the Funke media group. “But science, not politics, has to provide well-founded answers. China can demonstrate how transparently it wants to deal with the virus.”
