Topline
In a Sunday morning appearance on NBC News' Meet the Press, former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger said Chinese scientists have been "systemically silenced by their government" from discussing the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, referencing a slew of whistleblowers who reportedly faced retaliation from Chinese officials for speaking out about the virus last year and at times contradicting the information officials disclosed to the public.
Former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger in 2020.
Key Facts
"If [the virus] came out of a lab, there are people in China who probably know that," Pottinger, who served under former President Donald Trump, said Sunday, adding that President Joe Biden's call for a 90-day U.S. intelligence investigation might "embolden" scientists to speak up despite the Chinese government's retaliatory measures targeting whistleblowers.
Though Pottinger didn't specifically reference anyone, the Chinese government was quick to displicine people speaking out about the virus' origins, with state media broadcasting on Jan. 1, 2020 (while there were less than 40 known Covid cases) that Wuhan officials had investigated and punished eight people for "spreading rumors" about the virus on the Internet.
One of those people was Dr. Li Wenliang, a doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital who warned colleagues and friends about a potential outbreak on WeChat after treating seven patients—all of whom had gone to a local seafood market—with SARS-like symptoms in late December 2019.
The same day as Li's warning, Wuhan's local health commission told medical institutions about the unknown illness spreading but warned them not to share unauthorized information publicly, according to CNN, and days later, Li was charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly spreading false information and disturbing the public order; he died of the virus in February 2020.
Dr. Ai Fen, another whistleblower who worked in the emergency department of the same Wuhan hospital, warned colleagues with a photo of lab results on Dec. 30, 2019, that a coronavirus had infected a patient, and was later reprimanded by the hospital's Communist Party Secretary for spreading rumors and "harming stability."
Chinese authorities reportedly said in late January (after Li's death) that the eight people arrested shouldn't have been censured, but reports have since surfaced that Beijing is still censoring social media discussions about the pandemic's origins and arresting journalists whose coverage disputes the government's official narrative.
China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Forbes request for comment.
Crucial Quote
"I think there's a lot that can be learned in 90 days. It's conceivable that we'll have an answer," Pottinger said Sunday of the intelligence investigation. "And even if we come up short with a definitive answer, what we're going to have is a foundation for additional revelations to come out from scientists around the world who previously were frightened… are now going to be emboldened because they know that this is a priority of the United States."
Key Background
Tensions over the origins of Covid-19 have reached a boiling point over the past week after a Wall Street Journal report last Sunday detailed that three researchers working at a Wuhan virology lab went to the hospital with Covid-like symptoms weeks before the first case was confirmed, lending credibility to the unconfirmed theory that the virus may have leaked from a lab. Conservative lawmakers quickly latched onto the theory as a way to cast blame on China for the pandemic, especially as it intensified in the U.S., but Democrats and scientists largely dismissed it. Yuan Zhiming, the director of the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, told Chinese state media the report was “a complete lie" last week. U.S. lawmakers are now calling for additional investigations into the matter. Biden says intelligence officials believe the virus either developed naturally and spread from animal to human, or leaked from a lab.
Chief Critic
"Some in the US, turning a blind eye to facts, science, the questionable study of origins and botched response at home, keep clamoring for additional investigation in China," Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said Thursday when asked whether the country would consider cooperating with investigations supported by scientists around the world. He countered by saying the U.S. should allow international investigations into Fort Detrick, a military lab studying dangerous microbes that shut down for months in 2019 after the CDC declared it did not have "sufficient systems in place to decontaminate wastewater. "What secrets are hidden in the suspicion-shrouded Fort Detrick and the over 200 US bio-labs all over the world?"
Further Reading
China's truthtellers: The people who shared details of the Covid-19 pandemic that Beijing left out (CNN)
Rep. McCaul Calls Covid-19 Origins 'Worst Coverup In Human History' (Forbes)
A doctor was arrested for warning China about the coronavirus. Then he died of it (LA Times)
I'm a reporter at Forbes focusing on markets and finance. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I double-majored in business journalism
…I'm a reporter at Forbes focusing on markets and finance. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I double-majored in business journalism and economics while working for UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School as a marketing and communications assistant. Before Forbes, I spent a summer reporting on the L.A. private sector for Los Angeles Business Journal and wrote about publicly traded North Carolina companies for NC Business News Wire. Reach out at jponciano@forbes.com.