‘Rattled' China knows world is on brink of truth about Covid lab leak – they are desperate to shift blame, say experts
CHINA'S brazen claim that the Covid pandemic started in the US "smacks of desperation", says an expert.
Viscount Matt Ridley and Lord David Alton react to the extraordinary accusation made in a new White Paper released by Beijing's State Council Information Office.
4
China has claimed the Covid pandemic may have started in the US
Credit: EPA
4
'I think it's almost certainly a response to the web page,' says Viscount Matt Ridley
Credit: Jack Hill/The Times
4
'When it comes to disinformation the Chinese Communist Party is in a league of its own,' says Lord David Alton
Credit: PA
Viscount Matt Ridley, a hereditary peer in the House of Lords and science writer, told The Sun: "It smacks of desperation.
"They can feel the net closing in - that it's more and more obvious that it was reckless and pointless experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology that caused this.
"The coincidence is bizarre that it should turn up in that city of all places.
"I think it's almost certainly a response to the web page. I think the timing suggests that they are rattled - that they felt they needed to respond to the White House.
"It suggests that they have given up on their theory that it got there on frozen food. That used to be their preferred theory.
"I've read the brief announcement - it seems to be extremely threadbare. There's a lot of faulty logic. We know Covid-19 tests can give false positives."
Lord David Alton, a member of the House of Lords, told The Sun: "When it comes to disinformation the Chinese Communist Party is in a class of its own.
"Over 7 million people died from Covid and millions more have suffered from its consequences.
"All the evidence points to Covid's origins in China.
"They should be held to account through reparations and not allowed to get away with pedalling falsehoods."
It comes after The Sun's explosive Covid lab leak documentary laid bare the mounting evidence and disturbing questions surrounding the virus's emergence in Wuhan - home to China's most secretive bio-research facility.
I was in Oval Office with Trump at start of pandemic - no one was closer to Chinese officials than me & I believe Covid was engineered in lab
Just a few days ago, the US unveiled a bombshell new web page on the origins of Covid, blaming the Wuhan Institute of Virology for unleashing the killer virus.
Now, in a fresh propaganda push, Beijing insists "substantial evidence" shows Covid "might have emerged in the United States earlier than its officially-claimed timeline, and earlier than the outbreak in China".
The document - titled Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China's Actions and Stance - was released via China's official Xinhua news agency.
It unashamedly accused the US of "indifference and delayed actions" during the global Covid fight - and of scapegoating China to deflect from its own "mismanaged" response.
It wrote: "The US has made China the primary scapegoat for its own mismanaged COVID-19 response."
The report added that America was 'spreading misinformation' and wasted 'precious time China had secured for the global fight against the pandemic".
It revived Beijing's long-standing claims that it shared information with the world in a "timely manner".
The paper added: 'The US should not continue to 'pretend to be deaf and dumb', but should respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community.'
4
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'Victory for American people' as Fauci phone and hard drives seized in Covid probe
Hard drives and a cell phone seized from Dr Anthony Fauci could shed light on key decisions during the Covid pandemic - including lockdowns and mask edicts. FBI director Kash Patel revealed Thursday the Trump administration had recovered the devices, calling it a 'great breakthrough' and a 'victory for the American people.' Fauci was chief medical adviser during the pandemic but flip-flopped on crucial Covid safety information - such as mask-wearing - and sought to silence scientists whose views, including the lab-leak theory, clashed with received wisdom. Speaking Thursday on the Joe Rogan Experience, Patel outlined the government's continuing investigation into the origins of the pandemic and the federal response. Patel said investigators had long struggled to locate the devices Fauci used while serving as White House medical adviser - records that could shed light on key decisions surrounding lockdowns, mask mandates, and ties between Fauci's former agency and the Wuhan laboratory central to the lab leak theory. During the episode - where Patel shared a cigar with Rogan and touched on topics ranging from Covid to UFOs - he revealed the FBI had recovered the phone and hard drives just days before the interview was recorded. Patel did not clarify when the phone was in use, how investigators verified its connection to Fauci, or how the devices were obtained. Nor did he disclose what the FBI's 'multiple investigations' into the pandemic's origin have uncovered so far. It is unclear exactly when the phone was used and how they verified it belonged to Fauci. He also warned against drawing premature conclusions, noting 'everything's not necessarily in there' and that potentially relevant data may have been erased. Still, Patel called the discovery 'a victory for the American people' and said his team is actively reviewing the contents of the devices. Patel said: 'We found it [the devices], and at least we can tell the American people we've been looking because it is of public importance to figure out, did that guy lie? 'Did he intentionally mislead the world and cause countless deaths? 'We owe those answers to the American people, and the best evidence ever is always the people's evidence who created it. So now we're going to go and exploit those hard drives.' 'We did find it [the cell phone], we're not done, we're still looking and we're on the case.' Patel did not specify how his team got the old phone or how they verified it was Fauci's. Generally, a warrant is required to seize a cell phone, even for a government official. There are no publicly available warrants out against Fauci. The FBI and CIA have both asserted they think Covid most likely originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, which was conducting risky experiments on coronaviruses in the years leading up to the pandemic. Some of those experiments were funded by U.S. taxpayer money through grants awarded by Fauci's old department, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Fauci, once seen as an 'adult in the room' amid a chaotic and confusing government response to the initial 2020 outbreak, has seen his sparkling public image take a hit in recent years. Leaked emails show that in early 2020 he commissioned a paper denouncing the lab-leak theory as a conspiracy, then publicized the study at a White House news conference weeks later without disclosing his involvement. He and other public health experts also publicly dismissed the lab leak - with Fauci saying in June 2021 that it was 'a very, very, very, very remote possibility.' It later emerged that, as the head of the NIAID, he presided over the allocation of taxpayer-funded grants for virus-enhancing research at the WIV years before the pandemic began. A federal watchdog found the NIH 'did not effectively monitor' those experiments or check whether they involved pathogens with pandemic risk. Fauci also privately expressed concern the virus may have been the product of a research accident. Internationally, other intelligence agencies have also supported the lab-leak theory. The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) carried out a secret investigation into the origins of Covid nicknamed Project Saaremaa during the pandemic, sharing the findings with the U.S. in December 2024. Investigators found unpublished dissertations from 2019 and 2020 that allegedly discussed the effects of coronaviruses on the human body. Additionally, uncovered materials revealed Chinese scientists had 'an unusually large amount of knowledge about the supposedly novel virus available at an unusually early stage.' Based on the materials BND agents found and analyzed, they used a 'Probability Index' to measure the reliability of information, which determined the lab-leak theory was 'probable' with an '80 to 95 per cent' certainty. Robert Redfield, former CDC director when the pandemic erupted, also accused American and British health agencies of shutting down concerns over potential lab leaks. He has previously told he is '100 per cent' convinced Covid was the result of scientists becoming infected while carrying out high-risk experiments to boost the infectivity of bat viruses amid low biosecurity in Wuhan labs. Fauci has denied all accusations of Covid being 'covered up' or originating from a lab. Last year he told a U.S. House panel that he had not suppressed lab leak theories or influenced research to discredit it. He has also called accusations that he covered it up 'preposterous.' Patel said: 'My mission has always been to put out the truth, whatever the consequences, whoever it's against. What did Fauci get wrong? From telling people not to wear masks to claiming vaccines stopped infections Don't wear masks, do wear masks As global concern for Covid was surfacing in March 2020, Fauci told Americans that there was 'no need' to wear a face mask. He said they may only help people 'feel a little better', and 'might even block a droplet' — but would not provide good protection. Less than a month later, he was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after it emerged the virus spread via droplets in the air. Fauci later insisted he advised people not to wear masks to ensure there were enough available for hospitals and healthcare centers. Covid did not come from a lab Fauci has repeatedly insisted that Covid did not leak from a lab in China. He called the theory a 'shiny object that will go away,' and brushed aside claims from other top experts as an 'opinion.' Fauci has now backpedaled, saying instead he keeps an 'open mind' although insisting it remains 'most likely' that the virus spilled over from animals to humans. Two shots will stop you catching Covid When the Covid vaccine roll-out was in full swing, Fauci said the immunity from shots made doubly-vaccinated people a 'dead end' for the virus, and even suggested they may no longer need to wear masks. Schools shutdown Schools were closed from March through to August 2020, something Fauci later expressed regret about. He has since admitted he 'should have realized' there would be 'deleterious collateral consequences'.
The Herald Scotland
8 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
May jobs report shows 139,000 jobs were added last month
Before the report's release, economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated that 125,000 jobs were added last month. Job gains for March and April were revised down by a combined 95,000, portraying a weaker labor market that believed in late winter and early spring. March's total was downgraded from 185,000 to 120,000 and April's, from 177,000 to 147,000. Is the job market good or bad right now? The labor market has held up remarkably well despite the hurdles posed by Trump's economic policies, with employment gains averaging well over 100,000 a month so far this year. But many forecasters reckoned a more pronounced hiring slowdown took shape in May and would intensify in the months ahead. Trump's trade strategy lies at the center of the projected downshift. He paused the high double-digit tariffs he slapped on dozens of countries in April and in May agreed to slash levies on Chinese imports from 145% to a still-elevated 30%. China agreed to broadly similar concessions. But the moves hinge on further U.S. deals with China and other countries. And 25% tariffs remain in effect on all imported cars and many goods from Canada and Mexico. This week, Trump hiked fees on steel and aluminum imports to 50% from 25%. And while a trade court last month struck down many of Trump's tariffs, they remain in effect during an appeal, prolonging the uncertainty for businesses. Economists expect the duties to reignite inflation within a month or two and dampen consumer spending. The costs also have heightened business uncertainty, curtailing hiring and investment. How many federal employees are laid off? The Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency has cut as many as 120,000 federal jobs but many workers have been placed on administrative leave, leaving them on U.S. payrolls pending court cases, Morgan Stanley said in a report. Still, the reductions have started to filter into the jobs numbers. Goldman Sachs estimates federal employment declined by a relatively modest 10,000 in May, adding to the 26,000 government workers that Capital Economics says already have been chopped since February. Are there still immigrants coming to America? Besides toughening enforcement at the southern border, the administration has canceled or declined to renew work permits and other protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants, economist Lydia Boussour of EY-Parthenon wrote in a note to clients. That will likely mean a smaller labor supply that further constrains hiring, especially in industries such as construction and hospitality, she said. Some calendar quirks also could have suppressed employment last month. For technical reasons, a late Easter likely boosted payrolls in April but heralds a lower tally for May as staffing levels returned to normal, Morgan Stanley said. Yet while hiring generally has slowed, other economists figured job growth remained sturdy last month as companies frustrated by labor shortages during the pandemic continued to curtail layoffs. Capital Economics and Barclays both predicted 150,000 jobs gains for May. By the end of the year, however, Barclays believes tariffs, federal layoffs and immigration curbs will slow average monthly job gains to about 75,000.
Metro
9 hours ago
- Metro
The megacity bigger than Scotland where 2,600,000 cameras are always watching
Big Brother is not just watching in the Chinese megacity of Chongqing – he is everywhere, all at once. Boasting a population of 30million people, and stretching across 31,815 square miles, it is one of the largest cities in the world, and even bigger than entire countries – like Scotland. What also sets the former wartime capital of China apart is the sprawling CCTV network that operates inside. Stepping inside Chongqing, every street, alleyway and apartment building is watched by cameras. The way it works is that neighbourhoods are divided into a grid-like pattern with 15-20 households per square. Each grid has a monitor which reports back on residents' activities to local committees. A report to the Chinese National People's Congress from earlier in March offers a glimpse of how this system works and how Chinese authorities are ramping up surveillance even further. It said another 27,900 surveillance cameras alongside 245 sensors were installed as part of the comprehensive 'grid' surveillance, Radio Free Asia reported. Cities in China are under the heaviest surveillance system in the world, with estimated 626 million cameras to 1.43 billion people. But Chongqing beats even science and technology hubs like Beijing and Shanghai, with almost 2.6million cameras in the city equating to one camera for every six residents. It is all part of a sophisticated mass surveillance project, conducted by the Chinese government through Internet surveillance, CCTV and through other digital technologies. Metro spoke to Dr Xiaobai Shen, a senior lecturer in international and Chinese business at the University of Edinburgh. She's lived in the UK for more than 30 years, and in the last decade her research has focused on advancing its digital data-based technologies. The social credit system is one of these – a national record rolled out in 2014 which tracks the trustworthiness of people and businesses, in the hope of regulating and improving behaviour and reducing crime. So while surveillance, including in Chongqing, feeds into that system, it is starting to be seen as a more positive thing in China rather than an invasion of privacy or intrusion. Dr Shen told Metro about the origins of the system: 'At that time there was rampant commercial fraud, economic losses, there was government judicial mistrust, and third was public safety issues and food related scandals, like the melamine tainted milk scandal. 'You didn't really feel China was a safe place. That is when the Chinese government pushed out the social credit system, to reboot society to be trustworthy, to build a trustworthy society and get back to the traditional Chinese culture. 'In reality the system is not monolithic and top down by central government, in reality there are hundreds of local projects. 'The cameras are only one part of the surveillance technology. There was a lot of investment used to set up all these surveillance cameras, but also a real name registration system, so every mobile SIM card is linked to your national ID. 'In China nowadays they don't really have any use for cash, they always use mobile payment wherever you go, you have a mobile on you, and if you got on the bus or take a train it can be monitored. 'The people living in different communities have different needs, so what you call dystopian in China it's considered a custom service, a local administration serves the local people. 'Over here in Edinburgh if you want to wait for a pothole to be fixed, possibly 10 years, but over there you could call up the local authority and straight away a drone is sent to inspect it and then they get things done. 'Last time I came back from China, sitting in the plane, and an old woman sat by me and we were talking about something and she said 'oh well, we all know we are now naked', so she knew there's surveillance, people gradually learn and understand.' Another element of what makes Chongqing so dystopian is the way the city is set up. Its mountainous geography has forced architects to utilise vertical space and create a multi-layered urban structure. Buildings and infrastructure are integrated into this terrain, with roads and metro lines erected above ground or tunneled through slopes and even residential skyscrapers, also to maximise space. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Historic neighbourhoods built centuries ago have been preserved as pedestrian-friendly tourist destinations, standing proudly next to towering modern blocks. Chongqiang was a significant military industrial hub during the Mao era and World War II, but the leftovers from this legacy have been reuses. For example, former weapons plants have been converted into creative centres, cultural parks, and tech campuses. This has resulted in a '5D city' where different levels of infrastructure are interconnected even high up in the sky. Most transport including rivers, railways and the main roads remain on ground of lower levels. But those roads can consist of up to five levels stacked on top of each other: the Huangjuewan Interchange, for example, is a complicated five-layer intersection with 15 ramps. The city is also known as the 'bridge capital of China' as it is home to more than 40 significant bridges, including Chaotianmen Bridge – one of the longest arch bridges in the world. Mid levels feature residential neighbourhoods, public plazas and shops, while public facilities like schools are higher up. This means high-rise buildings can have multiple public entrances on different floors, depending on which side you enter from. The city also boasts 298 skyscrapers over 100 metres tall and 26 buildings exceeding 200 metres, ranking 15th worldwide for the number of skyscrapers and sixth in mainland China. To put that into context, there are currently just 12 towers in London that exceed 200m. The city is also home to The Crystal, a horizontal skyscraper which connects four skyscrapers high in the air. For the growing number of tourists, the 5D city is a fascinating phenomenon, but for residents – particularly the working class who live on the lower levels of Chongqing – it means that sunlight has become luxury. The megacity is also perpetually grey, enshrouded by a thick layer of fog for over 100 days of the year, forcing residents to live in the dark for at least a third of the year. But planners have attempted to break this up and reduce the monotony by creating rooftop public parks on top of skyscrapers. More Trending The city has been broken up into three distinct zones: the central city, satellite towns, and the rural belt. Chongqing's famous skyline and most of its economic activity takes place in the central core, but new development zones are being set up to move activity outside of the city centre. Outer districts and counties feature mountainous agricultural terrain alongside ecological preservation zones. A version of this article was originally published on May 1, 2025 Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Urgent recall of 1,700,000 air conditioners over fears they harbour mold MORE: Tourist smashes two Terracotta Army warriors during bizarre museum rampage MORE: British man arrested in the US is accused of spying for China
