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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Gertz: Wuhan virus in connection with Chinese biological weapons |
| 2020-01-26 |
| [Wash Times] The deadly animal virus epidemic spreading globally may have originated in a Wuhan laboratory linked to China's covert biological weapons program, according to an Israeli biological warfare expert. Radio Free Asia this week rebroadcast a local Wuhan television report from 2015 showing China's most advanced virus research laboratory known the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Radio Free Asia reported. The Wuhan virology institute is under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. But certain laboratories within it "have linkage with the PLA or BW-related elements within the Chinese defense establishment," he said. In 1993, China declared a second facility, the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, as one of eight biological warfare research facilities covered by the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) which China joined in 1985. The Wuhan Institute of Biological Products is a civilian facility but is linked to the Chinese defense establishment, and has been regarded to be involved in the Chinese BW program, Mr. Shoham said. China's vaccine against SARS is probably produced there. "This means the SARS virus is held and propagated there, but it is not a new coronavirus, unless the wild type has been modified, which is not known and cannot be speculated at the moment," he said. One ominous sign, said a U.S. official, is the that false rumors since the outbreak began several weeks ago have begun circulating on the Chinese Internet claiming the virus is part of a U.S. conspiracy to spread germ weapons. That could indicate China is preparing propaganda outlets to counter future charges the new virus escaped from one of Wuhan's civilian or defense research laboratories. The bios lab is located about 20 miles from the Hunan Seafood Market that reports from China say may have been origin point of the virus. |
| Posted by:Woodrow |
| #13 Ah, so I'm not alone in detecting the occasional emanation from the pyramid. Got a little pharaoh in him, our Herb? |
| Posted by: Chinegum the Great4821 2020-01-26 23:53 |
| #12 Why on earth did anybody think that this shitty corrupt dictatorial shithole nation could possibly be a partner, let alone an indispensable tightly-integrated one, to our reason-based and scientifically-advanced democracy? Who are those idiots who pushed the elevation of China from third-world shithole - hellhole, actually - to near co-equal and rival to America? How did we allow this to happen? Crime of the century. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-26 18:50 |
| #11 Hoping it wasn't your #1, SteveS. Knowing the Middle Kingdom's lack of forthrightness, would not be surprised by your #2. #3 is a given. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2020-01-26 17:11 |
| #10 The reason 'we' have the genome is that the Chinese published it - after they isolated the infectious organism and sequenced it. How did they sequence a new virus so fast? A interesting question. Some speculation, in no particular order: 1) It was their research pet from the start and got away. Stuff happens and you only need to get it wrong once. 2) They had a head start. The outbreak may have started back near the beginning of December and there was a Level 4 bio-lab conveniently just down the road. 3) Sequencing is faster and cheaper than ever before. You can buy an off-the-shelf desktop sequencer and play with DNA in your own kitchen. A well-equipped bio-lab (just down the road!) would have multiple sequencers which could be run in parallel. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2020-01-26 16:27 |
| #9 Wait, according to section 48, paragraph 14, clause 3.4110, the use of 'these' or 'those' or any other demonstrative word in front of 'people' is an insult. Example: Why is it every time China fvcks up, one of you people come apologizing and deflecting? Cross referencing with the Pyramid of Shame, you are in violation of level 1, bucc-o. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-01-26 16:13 |
| #8 How did the Chinese have the virus genome so fast, Herb? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-01-26 15:08 |
| #7 Uh... the kind that eat a lot of bagels? I (poppy) seed what you did there! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2020-01-26 15:02 |
| #6 Why is it always one of these people who pop up to spread conspiracy theories? Uh... the kind that eat a lot of bagels? Or am I taking your statement the wrong way? |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2020-01-26 14:55 |
| #5 Why is it always one of these people who pop up to spread conspiracy theories? We have the entire genome of this virus. |
| Posted by: Herb McCoy 2020-01-26 12:41 |
| #4 Guess I won't be checking out that new Chinese seafood restaurant in Quincy for a couple of months, either. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-01-26 07:12 |
| #3 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-26 07:05 |
| #2 Probably just a coincidence: CBC 14 July 2019 - Chinese researcher escorted from Canada's only BIO level-4 infectious disease lab amid RCMP investigation |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-26 06:49 |
| #1 Lets watch and see if the head of security + some "researchers" disappear. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-01-26 03:20 |