May 10, 2021
2 mins read

5 years before pandemic, China probed weaponising coronaviruses

The paper titled The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons suggested that World War Three would be fought with biological weapons…reports Asian Lite News

A document written by Chinese scientists and health officials before the pandemic in 2015 states that SARS coronaviruses were a “new era of genetic weapons” that could be “artificially manipulated into an emerging human disease virus, then weaponised and unleashed, reported Weekend Australian.

The paper titled The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons suggested that World War Three would be fought with biological weapons. The document revealed that Chinese military scientists were discussing the weaponisation of SARS coronaviruses five years before the COVID-19 pandemic. The report by Weekend Australian was published in news.com.au.

Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), told news.com.au that the document is as close to a “smoking gun” as we’ve got.

“I think this is significant because it clearly shows that Chinese scientists were thinking about military application for different strains of the coronavirus and thinking about how it could be deployed,” Jennings said.

“It begins to firm up the possibility that what we have here is the accidental release of a pathogen for military use,” Jennings added.

He also said that the document may explain why China has been so reluctant for outside investigations into the origins of COVID-19.

“If this was a case of transmission from a wet market it would be in China’s interest to co-operate … we’ve had the opposite of that.”

Also read:China explores New Concept Weapons for PLA

Robert Potter, a cyber security specialist who analyses leaked Chinese government documents, was asked by The Australian to verify the paper. He says the document definitely isn’t fake, reported news.com.au.

“We reached a high confidence conclusion that it was genuine … It’s not fake but it’s up to someone else to interpret how serious it is,” Potter said.

“It emerged in the last few years … they (China) will almost certainly try to remove it now it’s been covered.”

Bangladesh emphasizes wearing masks to contain COVID-19

Potter further stated that it isn’t unusual to see Chinese research papers discussing areas that they’re behind on and need to make progress in.

“It’s a really interesting article to show what their scientific researchers are thinking,” he added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been caused by a coronavirus named SARS-Co V-2 which emerged in December 2019. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, several of which cause respiratory diseases in humans – ranging from a common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began there have been over 157 million cases of COVID-19 and 3.28 million deaths worldwide, according to the latest update by Johns Hopkins University. (ANI)

Also read:Jaishankar skips China convened Security Council meet

Previous Story

PM calls for talks after Scottish nationalists win

Next Story

Queen’s cousin offers to sell access to Putin: Report

Latest from -Top News

India bids emotional farewell to Manmohan Singh

The nation bid an emotional farewell to the stalwart Congress leader who was fondly known as the ‘Architect of India’s economic reforms’. Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was laid to rest

Biden pays tribute to India’s ex-PM Manmohan Singh

Presiden Biden emphasised that “the unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the Prime Minister’s strategic vision and political courage.” US President

OpenAI’s o3 reasoning model ignites AI hype

Social media influencers have kicked off a fierce debate over OpenAI’s new o3 reasoning model, with some of them raising concerns about its high cost and the potential for overhyping its artificial
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Taliban to Join China’s BRI Forum

Taliban officials have attended regional meetings, primarily related to Afghanistan,

China using ‘salami-slicing technique’ to encroach Himalayan nations

China has also strengthened its military facilities in Tibet while