China’s state-run Global Times newspaper has been accused of spreading an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that a U. S. military cyclist was the cause of the novel coronavirus. On March 25, the English-language newspaper suggested the U. S. “disclose fitness and infection data of the U. S. Army delegation that arrived in Wuhan for the Military World Games in October. According to the newspaper, this would “put an end to the conjecture that U. S. military personnel are bringing COVID-19 to China. “
The newspaper said it was responding to claims by U. S. “investigative journalist” George Webb, described by the New York Times as a “far-right conspiracy theorist on YouTube. “
Webb says the novel coronavirus was manufactured in a U. S. military lab and imported into China through diplomatic pilot Maatje Benassi, a 52-year-old cyclist who was in Wuhan in October to compete in the Military World Games.
Webb’s claim (which, according to the Global Times, was made “without falsified evidence”) has been widely discussed in China and adds to that of Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who told his 300,000 Twitter followers on March 12 that the virus would possibly have been manufactured by the U. S. military.
“Many Chinese netizens suggested that the U. S. visit Benassi because of COVID-19 and reveal facts about the U. S. delegation,” the Global Times reported.
Li Haidong, a professor of U. S. studies at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, told the newspaper that “the U. S. government” will have to respond to the controversy and release applicable data related to his physical standing and history of infections. to dispel the doubts of the public and contribute to the clinical study of the origin of the virus.
China has sought to downplay its role in the emergence of the novel coronavirus. However, most experts claim that the virus that causes COVID-19 originated in a “wet market” — that is, the promotion of live and dead animals for human consumption — in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Opening rite of the 7th CISM Military World Games in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, October 18, 2019. (Photo by Wang HE/Getty Images)
The search for “patient zero,” the first documented patient in an outbreak within a population, is widespread in China and elsewhere. On March 6, the Wall Street Journal reported that one of the first patients to suffer from the crippling respiratory disease was Wei Guixian, a 57-year-old seafood vendor, who worked at the Wuhan market, where the virus is believed to have first spread to humans (she has since recovered).
American actress Gwyneth Paltrow patient 0 in the recently seen 2011 Hollywood film “Contagion. “