A U.S. intelligence report has alleged that China deliberately downplayed the seriousness of the novel coronavirus pandemic as it scrambled to stock up on vital medical supplies.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) compiled a four-page report, dated May 1, on the response from Chinese officials to the outbreak of the novel virus. The document reportedly alleged that Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the new coronavirus.
President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, other administration officials and several top Republicans have been increasingly critical of China’s response to the new coronavirus, accusing the country of covering up the severity of COVID-19 and failing to be transparent with the international community. Chinese officials in Wuhan, where the novel virus was first discovered, initially suppressed information about the outbreak, even detaining doctors who attempted to inform the public.
Trump has been facing criticism within the U.S. for his administration’s slow response to address the crisis. The president downplayed the threat from the novel virus through February, even suggesting that it would just disappear. Administration critics have argued that Trump and his supporters are attempting to deflect blame by focusing national attention on China’s mistakes.
The DHS document reported by the AP, which was not classified but was labeled “for official use only,” suggested that China was working to shore up necessary medical supplies as it intentionally downplayed the severity of the rapidly spreading outbreak. The document notes that China began ramping up imports of equipment such as respirator masks and medical gowns while delaying exports.
Chinese officials worked to conceal this effort by “denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data,” the document said. The report also claimed that China intentionally did not inform the international community that the virus was “a contagion” throughout January as it continued to stock up on medical supplies. According to the DHS document, these conclusions were drawn based on 95 percent certainty that China adjusted its imports and exports outside of a normal range.
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., as well as the DHS for comment on the report.
The report comes as speculation mounts that the novel coronavirus may have leaked from a top research lab in Wuhan, which was known to be analyzing viruses from bats. Scientists believe COVID-19 originated in bats before making the leap to humans, possibly through an intermediary animal.
“These are not the first times that we’ve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab,” Pompeo said in a Sunday interview with ABC’s This Week. “And so, while the intelligence community continues to do its work, they should continue to do that, and verify so that we are certain, I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan.”
Chinese officials and scientists from the Wuhan lab have consistently denied these allegations.
“Since Pompeo said his claims are supported by ‘enormous evidence,’ then he should present this so-called evidence to the world, and especially to the American public who he continually tries to fool. The truth is that Pompeo does not have any evidence, and during Sunday’s interview, he was bluffing,” the editorial board of the Global Times, a daily newspaper published by the Chinese Communist Party, wrote in a Monday article.
