Newly obtained emails have revealed that scientists working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which has been in the spotlight as a potential ground zero for COVID-19, visited Dr. Anthony Fauci’s institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2017, only a few months before the NIH lifted a pause on high-risk virology research.
Ms. Shi researches SARS-like coronaviruses of bat origin and directs the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the WIV. According to the emails, EcoHealth Alliance, an American nonprofit research organization that receives funding from the NIH and works closely with the WIV, arranged Ms. Shi’s visit to NIAID. EcoHealth Alliance also acted as an intermediary between WIV and the NIAID in the past, arranging collaboration on projects and sometimes subcontracting work to the Chinese lab.
“Our Chinese Co-investigator, Zhengli Shi from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, will be visiting the U.S. in June to give a talk at a conference here. I'd really like to come and visit you and your colleagues at NIH with her while she’s here,” EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak said in an email in April 2017.
Other emails show the conference was billed as one about “SARS, MERS, and the risk of novel viral emergence from bats.” Mr. Daszak spoke during the presentation as well. “Zhengli and I will do a double act,” he said in an email discussing the conference.
Another email from May 24, 2017, reportedly showed Mr. Daszak seeking security clearance for Ms. Shi ahead of her eventual June visit to the United States. Peng Zhou, an associate professor at WIV, was also listed as requiring security clearance to visit the country and institute.
Wuhan Lab Worked With Chinese military
The WIV has conducted research projects for the Chinese military since at least 2017, according to U.S. intelligence. A 2021 State Department fact sheet makes the same claim. Whether Ms. Shi’s ties to the Chinese military were investigated as part of her security screening isn’t known. Following the presentation, Mr. Daszak thanked NIAID program officer Erik Stemmy in a June 29, 2017, email and also mentioned it was great to “introduce our collaborators to you personally.”Only four months later, Dr. Fauci met with Mr. Daszak for reasons unknown. In a 2022 sworn deposition with the attorney generals of Missouri and Louisiana, Dr. Fauci claimed he had no recollection of the meeting. He even went so far as to say they had never crossed paths, stating he had met hundreds of people while at scientific meetings. A picture of Dr. Fauci and Mr. Daszak together does exist, proving they have met at least once.
By December 2017, after a three year pause, NIH resumed funding for gain of function research, which allowed scientists to alter the function of a virus to better understand its life cycle and evolution. However, critics of these types of experiments argued at the time they were unsafe and had the potential to cause a pandemic. In the past, Congress has held hearings about the NIH’s decision to resume gain of function research as well as the appropriateness of collaborating with China-based labs.
U.S. Right to Know speculates that this latest trove of emails, along with previously released information, proves that Dr. Fauci and his top aides knew of the novel coronavirus research underway at WIV, despite their claims to the contrary. The non-profit also questions how and why a virology experiment that could generate pandemic viruses was outsourced to a rival nation—especially one that has had fraught relations with the United States on a regular basis.
The latest release of information around the origins of COVID-19 comes just as Dr. Fauci is scheduled to give sworn testimony to congressional investigators in a closed-door transcribed interview over two days from Jan. 8 to Jan. 9. The subject of the hearing will cover the origins of COVID-19, the effectiveness of vaccine mandates, and ways to prevent future outbreaks.
The Epoch Times has contacted the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Dr. Anthony Fauci for comment.
