US officials believe China deliberately downplayed the country’s coronavirus outbreak in order to stock up on medical supplies needed to fight the illness, intelligence documents show.
In early January, Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world, according to a four-page Department of Homeland Security intelligence report obtained by the Associated Press.
The analysis also says that for much of January China delayed reporting the coronavirus “was a contagion” to the World Health Organization so they could import personal protective equipment.
The report, which is dated May 1 and marked “for official use only,” said China increased imports and decreased exports of medical supplies while downplaying the growing crisis.
The report’s conclusions were based on the 95 percent probability that China’s changes in imports and export behavior were not within normal range.
There is no public evidence to suggest that China deliberately withheld information for the purpose of hoarding the world’s medical supplies.
