An investigative report published this week in the Times of London claims that China’s People’s Liberation Army has been conducting virology research with potential military applications at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) since at least 2017. The report suggests that the “covert project of dangerous experiments” being conducted at the lab was likely a direct predicate for the global outbreak of Covid-19. Scientists researching the disease at the WIV were reportedly engaged in gain-of-function experiments, which genetically alter pathogens to increase the risks associated with infection in an effort to better understand how to mitigate those risks. Some of the first patients to be sickened with the virus were allegedly these scientists. Despite presenting itself as a civilian institution, the United States has determined that the Wuhan Institute of Virology has collaborated on publications and secret projects with China’s military. Previously unreleased State Department cables obtained by a journalistic nonprofit reveal the extent of the PLA’s investment in “shadow labs” at the WIV. The scandal no longer has much use as both Democratic and Republican partisans have few incentives to appear scandalized by these revelations. The politics of the moment are not conducive to good governance, and the factors that caused the pandemic are still with us, making the next nightmare inevitable.
