CAN’T MAKE THIS UP: US Taxpayer Funds Flowed To Chinese Entities That Conducted Coronavirus Research Before COVID Pandemic

U.S. taxpayer funds were discovered to have been channeled to Chinese organizations involved in coronavirus research, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology and a branch of the People’s Liberation Army, Fox reports. The findings were revealed in a report titled “NIH Could Take Additional Actions to Manage Risks Involving Foreign Subrecipients” by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which was obtained by Fox News Digital.

According to the report, funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were initially allocated to American universities and the non-profit organization EcoHealth Alliance. Subsequently, these funds were redirected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wuhan University, and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), which operates under the Chinese Communist Party.

The GAO conducted the investigation following a request from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner and Rep. Brad Wenstrup, who demanded a comprehensive examination of all public funds disbursed to Chinese entities between January 2014 and December 2021. The report states that the selected Chinese entities, which are government institutions and laboratories involved in infectious disease research, received funds from federal agencies to address safety and security concerns.

Between 2014 and 2021, the three Chinese entities received more than $2 million combined from the U.S. government through seven subawards identified by the GAO. While the Wuhan Institute of Virology received over $1.4 million during the period from June 2014 to May 2020, the NIH awarded funds to EcoHealth Alliance, which in turn provided $598,611 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology from June 2014 to May 2019. These funds were intended for research on the transmission of bat coronaviruses to humans.

Furthermore, USAID granted funds to the University of California, Davis, which allocated $815,109 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for pathogen detection research from October 2014 to September 2019. The AMMS, an arm of the People’s Liberation Army, also received $514,129 in taxpayer funds from August 2014 to July 2019 through subawards awarded by Duke University. This funding supported research on swine influenza virus transmission to humans.

Additionally, Wuhan University received $240,496 from U.S. taxpayer funds between June 2015 and September 2016. EcoHealth Alliance and the University of California, Davis, awarded $201,221 and $39,275, respectively, to Wuhan University for disease surveillance research activities and viral detection collaborations with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Turner and Wenstrup expressed their concerns regarding the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars for research conducted by Chinese entities, particularly the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been implicated in the “lab leak” theory. They emphasized the need for transparency and declassification of intelligence related to the origins of COVID-19.

While the Energy Department and the FBI have determined that the virus likely originated from a lab leak in China, there is currently no direct connection to U.S. funding. The NIH, in response to the report, stated that it never approved research to increase the danger of coronaviruses to humans and highlighted its support for understanding and combating these viruses.

{Matzav.com}