Within a few weeks of the spread of the new coronavirus from China to other parts of the world, a harmful word began to circulate on the Internet: Some people believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a biological weapon made in a laboratory. In mid-January 2020, Dr. Limeng Yan, a researcher at the University of Hong Kong, told her favorite YouTube host, Wang Dinggang, that she had heard the rumors about the origin of the new crown virus. Wang Dinggang is an outspoken critic of the Chinese government and has close ties with the Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui who is in exile. Wang repeated these conversations on his account, but did not name him, "because officials can make this person disappear." On January 25, 2020, an ultra-partisan news organization called "G News" published an article titled "Breaking News: China Will Recognize Coronavirus from Its P4 Laboratory" to further promote the biological weapons conspiracy theory . "G News" is not the only media publishing this article, but its participation is extremely important because "G News" has close ties with Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon. Steve Bannon is the former executive chairman of Breitbar News and an ally of President Trump. In October 2017, Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon formed a party alliance to jointly promote anti-communist actions through the foundation of the rule of law and the rule of law society. The organization is funded by Guo Wengui and managed by Bannon. It aims to "protect and help individuals who are persecuted in China, especially those punished for publicly opposing injustice." According to Guo Wengui, the reason why he and Bannon came together was because "they despised the Chinese Communist Party." They all have media backgrounds. Bannon was previously Trump's chief strategist. Prior to this, he ran the right-wing news website Breitbar. Guo Wengui founded and funded G Media, the company often publishes anti-communist reports on social media platforms, especially on the social media platform Parler (also known as rightist Twitter, users mostly come from the American conservative camp). Bannon said that before Yan Limeng’s first report was released, Wang Dinggang’s YouTube video had been shown to him and translated for him. As doubts about the origin of COVID-19 continued to spread in right-wing media networks, Guo Wengui and Bannon contacted Yan Limeng. This is the beginning of Yan Limeng's report being manipulated by the media. In an interview, Yan Limeng said that both China and the World Health Organization knew about the new coronavirus earlier than they admitted. This is not the only claim. For example, similar stories were widely spread in March and April 2020 under the label "China lied to cause many deaths". Yan Limeng said that she has evidence that the claim that the virus is transmitted from animals is a "smoke bomb" to conceal its true source. She claimed that the virus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan that has close ties with the Chinese Communist Party. These claims are unfounded and have been debunked. Although others have made similar remarks, Yan Limeng stands out because of her background in scientific research. From her resume, she has a medical degree from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University and a doctorate from Southern Medical University. Before joining Bannon and Guo Wengui's organization, she received a postdoctoral scholarship from the University of Hong Kong and became the first author of a new coronavirus research paper published in Nature, one of the world's most prestigious biological journals. On April 28, 2020, Guo Wengui helped Yan Limeng fly to the United States. In her recent article, she listed the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society as her official affiliates. At the end of April and early May, President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo instigated the rumor that "the new crown virus originated in a laboratory" in January. Trump refuted his intelligence team, saying that he has evidence and "high confidence" that the new coronavirus was created and released by a laboratory in Wuhan. On July 10, 2020, Yan Limeng transferred her story from the Internet and ultra-partisan news media to an interview with Fox News. In an interview, she stated that she had been avoiding the Chinese government and called herself a "whistleblower", claiming that the human-to-human transmission of the new crown virus had existed as early as December 2019. Fox referred to her as a "whistleblower" in an article about the interview, which was the first time the media put such a label on her. The interview received a lot of attention on the Internet, with more than 2.7 million views on YouTube and 18,000 hits on Facebook. The YouTube video has been deleted by Facebook’s "Public Censorship Tool". On the second day of the interview, the University of Hong Kong issued a press release to refute the research results stated by Yan Limeng in the Fox News interview. Yan Limeng continues to increase its media exposure. On September 9, she told Bannon’s popular podcast and YouTube show "War Room: Pandemic" co-host, editor-in-chief of the conservative news website National Pulse, and former editor-in-chief of Breitbart in London. Rahim Kassam reiterated his proposition. On September 11, Yan Limeng told the British talk show "Slutty Woman" that she would publish the evidence. The interview video can be watched on YouTube and has been viewed more than 1.4 million times. Subsequently, the "New York Post" cited an interview with Yan Limeng by " Slutty Woman", "Technology Times" (with 88,000 followers on Twitter), "Daily Mail" (2.6 million fans) and "Mint" ( 1.9 million fans) also cited this interview. With Yan Limeng, Guo Wengui and Bannon were able to effectively take advantage of the active crisis of the new crown virus and spread her claims of its origins and distrust of the Chinese Communist Party. However, reporters are still skeptical of her claims, and comments on social media continue to demand evidence.
Within a few weeks of the spread of the new coronavirus from China to other parts of the world, a harmful word began to circulate on the Internet: Some people believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a biological weapon made in a
laboratory.
In mid-January 2020, Dr. Limeng Yan, a researcher at the University of Hong Kong, told her favorite YouTube host, Wang Dinggang, that she had heard the rumors about the origin of the new crown virus. Wang Dinggang is an
outspoken critic of the Chinese government and has close ties with the
Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui who is in exile. Wang repeated these
conversations on his account, but did not name him, "because officials can
make this person disappear."
On January 25, 2020, an ultra-partisan news organization called "G News"
published an article titled "Breaking News: China Will Recognize Coronavirus from Its P4 Laboratory" to further promote the biological weapons
conspiracy theory . "G News" is not the only media publishing this article, but its participation is extremely important because "G News" has close ties with Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon. Steve Bannon is the former executive
chairman of Breitbar News and an ally of President Trump. In October 2017,
Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon formed a party alliance to jointly promote anti-communist actions through the foundation of the rule of law and the rule of law society. The organization is funded by Guo Wengui and managed by Bannon. It aims to "protect and help individuals who are persecuted in China,
especially those punished for publicly opposing injustice." According to Guo Wengui, the reason why he and Bannon came together was because "they
despised the Chinese Communist Party." They all have media backgrounds.
Bannon was previously Trump's chief strategist. Prior to this, he ran the
right-wing news website Breitbar. Guo Wengui founded and funded G Media, the company often publishes anti-communist reports on social media platforms,
especially on the social media platform Parler (also known as rightist
Twitter, users mostly come from the American conservative camp).
Bannon said that before Yan Limeng’s first report was released, Wang
Dinggang’s YouTube video had been shown to him and translated for him. As
doubts about the origin of COVID-19 continued to spread in right-wing media networks, Guo Wengui and Bannon contacted Yan Limeng. This is the beginning of Yan Limeng's report being manipulated by the media.
In an interview, Yan Limeng said that both China and the World Health
Organization knew about the new coronavirus earlier than they admitted. This is not the only claim. For example, similar stories were widely spread in
March and April 2020 under the label "China lied to cause many deaths". Yan Limeng said that she has evidence that the claim that the virus is
transmitted from animals is a "smoke bomb" to conceal its true source. She
claimed that the virus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan that has close ties with the Chinese Communist Party. These claims are unfounded and have
been debunked.
Although others have made similar remarks, Yan Limeng stands out because of her background in scientific research. From her resume, she has a medical
degree from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University and a
doctorate from Southern Medical University. Before joining Bannon and Guo
Wengui's organization, she received a postdoctoral scholarship from the
University of Hong Kong and became the first author of a new coronavirus
research paper published in Nature, one of the world's most prestigious
biological journals.
On April 28, 2020, Guo Wengui helped Yan Limeng fly to the United States. In her recent article, she listed the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of
Law Society as her official affiliates.
At the end of April and early May, President Trump and Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo instigated the rumor that "the new crown virus originated in a
laboratory" in January. Trump refuted his intelligence team, saying that he has evidence and "high confidence" that the new coronavirus was created and released by a laboratory in Wuhan.
On July 10, 2020, Yan Limeng transferred her story from the Internet and
ultra-partisan news media to an interview with Fox News. In an interview,
she stated that she had been avoiding the Chinese government and called
herself a "whistleblower", claiming that the human-to-human transmission of the new crown virus had existed as early as December 2019. Fox referred to
her as a "whistleblower" in an article about the interview, which was the
first time the media put such a label on her.
The interview received a lot of attention on the Internet, with more than 2.7 million views on YouTube and 18,000 hits on Facebook. The YouTube video
has been deleted by Facebook’s "Public Censorship Tool". On the second day of the interview, the University of Hong Kong issued a press release to
refute the research results stated by Yan Limeng in the Fox News interview.
Yan Limeng continues to increase its media exposure. On September 9, she
told Bannon’s popular podcast and YouTube show "War Room: Pandemic" co-host, editor-in-chief of the conservative news website National Pulse, and
former editor-in-chief of Breitbart in London. Rahim Kassam reiterated his
proposition. On September 11, Yan Limeng told the British talk show "Slutty Woman" that she would publish the evidence. The interview video can be
watched on YouTube and has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
Subsequently, the "New York Post" cited an interview with Yan Limeng by "
Slutty Woman", "Technology Times" (with 88,000 followers on Twitter), "Daily Mail" (2.6 million fans) and "Mint" ( 1.9 million fans) also cited this
interview.
With Yan Limeng, Guo Wengui and Bannon were able to effectively take
advantage of the active crisis of the new crown virus and spread her claims of its origins and distrust of the Chinese Communist Party. However,
reporters are still skeptical of her claims, and comments on social media
continue to demand evidence.