‘Secret Biolab’: The CCP Is Now Going After U.S. Farms

The discovery of an illegal medical research lab inside a Reedley, Calif. warehouse has residents concerned and journalists ready to investigate. Pictured here is bio researcher. (Public Domain)

NR | 31m | Documentary, Science, Crime | March 1, 2024

If not for an out-of-place garden hose protruding from an otherwise nondescript warehouse in the sleepy central California town of Reedley, you wouldn’t be reading this review. By pure accident, the hose caught the attention of Fresno County fire department enforcement officer (and part-time mystery novelist) Jesalyn Harper, who quickly surmised something was not right.

A nondescript warehouse like this one is where CCP-related individuals conducted dubious, ethically questionable scientific research. (W.carter/CC BY-SA 4.0)

During his introduction, Epoch Times senior investigative reporter and host of “Crossroads,” Joshua Philipp lets us know that California is the fifth largest producer of food in the world and the biggest in the United States—not a big surprise there. What is odd is just how close this mystery building is to the hundreds of acres of fruit being harvested. It’s easy to understand why Reedley’s nickname is “the World’s Fruit Basket.”

Alias Jesse Zhu

When entering the facility, a lab at the back of a recycling building, Ms. Harper meets four men in hazmat garb, three of whom are Chinese nationals, including one identifying himself as “Jesse Zhu.” She is told the unidentified company manufactures and ships pregnancy and COVID test kits, which only halfway checks out.

Stocks of dubious kits are found, but appear to be made elsewhere and are slapped with “Made in the U.S.A.” stickers before shipped or put for sale on Amazon. Not good to be sure, but it pales in comparison to what else is discovered.

Ms. Harper discovered a room full of neglected lab mice similar to the one shown above, in her investigation of the private lab. (Palosirkka/CC BY-SA 2.0)

There is a “mice room” full of live and deceased rodents, hundreds of shipping boxes stacked on code-violating shelving, buckets of 20 infectious viruses and chemicals (including Ebola), and untold amounts of unlabelled test tube vials. To top it all off, there are more electrical code violations too numerous to count.

Zero Government Authority

With more than enough evidence to arrest the men and shut the operation down, Ms. Harper is shocked to find out she can do nothing. Because the operation is funded privately; as opposed to receiving public donations or grants, it is immune to any and all American  FDA or CDC regulations. Yes, you read that correctly: The men and whoever they are fronting for can’t be prosecuted or even arrested, and none of the unlabeled substances found can be tested.

At this point, we’re less than 10 minutes into the half-hour-plus production, and it’s safe to say it could lead anywhere and everywhere—and that’s what it does.

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For the remainder of the program, Mr. Philipp and his co-writer Fiona Young (also the producer and the editor) approach the material, not so much as a police procedural (as no police were ever involved), but rather old-school, shoe-leather investigative journalism.

Epoch Times senior investigative reporter and host of "Crossroads," Joshua Philipp co-wrote "Secret Biolab." (The Epoch Times)

Resisting the temptation of talking head overload, just five more interviews are included and rather jump back and forth; the individuals offer their legal and professional opinions in full as the production progresses.

Among these people are Reedley mayor Nicole Zieba, Fresno County supervisor Nathan Magsig, U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), and Epoch Times reporter Steve Ispas. The only interview that should have probably been left out is with microbiologist Dr. Sean Lin, whose testimony is top-heavy with medical jargon that the average Joe will be unable to fully digest, much less understand.

Chinatown

The identity of the entity that was behind the Reedley lab is never outright revealed but, to no one’s surprise, is implied to be the CCP. The tentacles of the CCP within the Unites States are many and far reaching. The segment spent in the Chinatown section of San Francisco and the likely participation of local political activist Rose Lan Pak in the Reedley operation is particularly convincing and disquieting.

Unrelated to the Reedley incident is an ongoing program being sponsored by the Confucius Institute, something called “Little Red Classrooms.” Present in 143 school districts across 34 states this curriculum spouts CCP dogma while eschewing democracy and capitalism, mostly to elementary age U.S. children.

This skin-crawling subplot of “Secret Biolab” is more than worthy of another stand-alone episode.

In relatively short productions such as “Secret Biolab,” style and presentation are critical, not only for educational purposes, but also entertainment appeal. Audiences like to be informed, but not lectured to, and certainly not with stoic monologues. On the other hand, far too many “journalists” take everything too far in the other direction with over-the-top, hyper-stylized sensationalism.

Mr. Philipp and Ms. Young strike the perfect balance of the dispensing of information and stylish, yet restrained, visual storytelling.

The show is available now on Epoch TV.

‘Secret Biolab’ Director: none credited Running Time: 31 minutes MPAA Rating: Not Rated Release Date: March 1, 2024 Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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