Germany Identified This in 2020
FBI and CIA Also Support the China Lab Leak Theory
German intelligence agencies had already determined in 2020 that the COVID-19 virus originated from a Chinese laboratory, according to reports by Germany's S?ddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and Die Zeit on the 12th (local time).
According to SZ, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) analyzed information related to the origin of the COVID-19 virus under the direction of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The collected information included gain-of-function research and laboratory safety violations at Chinese institutions suspected as the source of the COVID-19 virus, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The BND assessed the possibility that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory to be between 80 and 95%.
However, the German government did not disclose the analysis results, citing concerns that their release could spark controversy.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also give weight to the lab leak theory. Local media reported that the BND informed the CIA of its analysis results last autumn.
Since December of last year, the German government has reportedly been inviting external experts to verify the BND's investigation results.
Christian Drosten, a virologist who served on the German government's COVID-19 expert advisory panel, said in a media interview last January that he still supports the natural origin theory but is "increasingly skeptical" as time passes.
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