"US Intelligence Agencies Confirm Hubei Province Officials in China Hid Virus Reality"

Wuhan Officials Hid Virus Situation from Central Government for Weeks After Early January Spread
Chinese Government Also Failed to Inform WHO Timely...Blame on China in US Likely to Intensify

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] U.S. intelligence agencies discovered evidence that Wuhan officials in Hubei Province, China, concealed the fact that COVID-19 was spreading rapidly in January, according to a report by The New York Times (NYT). It is known that U.S. intelligence views this as a decisive factor in the virus's spread, and it is expected that the narrative blaming China for COVID-19 will become stronger in the United States.

On the 19th (local time), The New York Times reported that intelligence agencies, including the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have concluded that officials in Wuhan, the initial outbreak site of COVID-19 in Hubei Province, China, concealed information about the virus's rapid spread from the Chinese central government for several weeks in January. The report is said to have circulated within the U.S. government in June. Citing current and former U.S. government officials and other sources, the NYT added that local officials in China often hide information from the central government out of fear of punishment.

According to the NYT, evidence suggesting that the Wuhan officials' misconduct was a decisive factor in the spread of the COVID-19 virus was also presented. The concealment or downplaying of reports by local officials meant that Beijing's central government was unaware of the potential devastation COVID-19 could cause in central China during the early stages of the outbreak. This is likened to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union, where local authorities hid the possibility of catastrophe and only informed the government too late, resulting in a nationwide disaster.

The report also pointed out that after the Chinese Communist Party regime obtained information about the Wuhan area, it failed to properly inform the international community, including the World Health Organization (WHO), thereby concealing the COVID-19 pandemic. The report included that the Chinese government attempted to spread false information about the virus's origin. It also criticized the Chinese central government for not sharing relevant information with the international community in a timely manner, making it responsible for the global spread of the virus.

The NYT reported that the theory of COVID-19 leaking from a Chinese virus laboratory, raised by some in the Trump administration, has not yet been supported by conclusive evidence. It also stated that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requested U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate the situation in Wuhan. The narrative blaming China is expected to intensify further in the United States.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.