- U.S. officials found that local officials had not reported the coronavirus threat to Beijing for weeks, and tried to stop the spread of the virus, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
- According to an internal report sent by US officials to The Times, local officials in Wuhan, China – where the coronavirus originated – hid information about the coronavirus from central government leaders, likely out of fear of compensation from the country’s communist government.
- The Trump administration has previously accused the central government of China of covering up the virus, but the US Intel, which circulated in June, shows the complexity behind the situation when the outbreak unfolded.
- “It makes a huge difference if it was Wuhan as Beijing,” Michael Pillsbury, director of Chinese strategy at the Hudson Institute and outside adviser to President Donald Trump, told The Times.
- The internal report was commissioned as a follow-up to a report by the Homeland Security Department that said Chinese officials hid the coronavirus to store medical supplies, the Associated Press reported in May.
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Intelligence gathered by U.S. agencies found that local officials in China have been hiding the coronavirus threat from government leaders for weeks, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The internal report, according to US officials who spoke to The Times, revealed that local officials in Wuhan, China – where the coronavirus originated – withheld information about the Beijing coronavirus from Beijing officials, possibly out of fear of retaliation.
The Trump administration has previously accused China’s central leaders of first covering the virus and spreading it worldwide. The internal report being discovered by U.S. intelligence agencies shows the complexity behind the situation when the outbreak unfolded.
“It makes a huge difference if it was Wuhan as Beijing,” Michael Pillsbury, director of Chinese strategy at the Hudson Institute and outside adviser to President Donald Trump, told The Times. He added that if Chinese President Xi Jinping was not involved in covering up the coronavirus, it could affect diplomatic relations between the US and China.
The internal report was commissioned as a follow-up to a May report by the Homeland Security Department that said Chinese officials initially hid the virus in a bid to save medical supplies, according to the Associated Press.
“In early January, we commended the Chinese government for the seriousness of COVID-19’s concealment from the international community, while medical supplies were boosted by both increasing imports and declining exports,” reads the DHS analysis, citing a senior law enforcement official maintaining to The Times.
The American Intel, which was circulated in June, does not release China’s guilt in the worldwide spread of the virus, current and former officials of the administration told The Times. Chinese officials brought the first weeks of the coronavirus outbreaks by silencing doctors who were trying to sound the alarm on the virus.
One doctor in Wuhan, Dr Li Wenliang, posted online about quarantine at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the city, and three days later Chinese authorities forced the doctor to sign a document declaring his first warnings “illegal”. behavior. ” Li died in February from the coronavirus.
