"Bitten by a Bat"... Why Did China Delete the Wuhan Institute Video?

Wound bitten by a bat. Photo by Yonhap News Agency · YouTube video capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, suspected of a COVID-19 virus leak, were belatedly revealed handling bats with bare hands without wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), causing a stir.

According to Taiwan News and other Taiwanese English media, China Central Television (CCTV) released a video in December 2017, before the outbreak of COVID-19, introducing Dr. Shi Zhengli (石正麗), a bat virus authority at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In the video, the research team touched bats and their excrement with bare hands without any protective gear. In fact, researcher Cui Jie (崔杰) shared an experience of being bitten by a bat during research, saying its fangs pierced through his gloves. He said, "the bat's fangs pierced the gloves, and it felt like being pricked by a needle."

The video was originally produced and aired to celebrate Dr. Shi Zhengli's promotion. However, the video reignited suspicions that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of the coronavirus, and eventually, China CCTV reportedly deleted the related article.

As the controversy grew, Dr. Shi Zhengli claimed, "It is not as dangerous as people think," and argued that "(bats) have a very low possibility of directly infecting humans."

A researcher at the Wuhan Institute in China handling a bat with bare hands. Photo by Yonhap News Agency · YouTube video capture.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) expert team that visited Wuhan in January to investigate the cause of the COVID-19 outbreak released a report stating that the possibility of COVID-19 leaking from the Wuhan Institute of Virology is low.

However, recently, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported suspicions that the Wuhan Institute of Virology could be the leak source, reigniting the origin controversy.

Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on the 30th of last month, "There is increasing circumstantial evidence suggesting that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China."

U.S. President Joe Biden also ordered intelligence agencies on the 26th of last month to further investigate the origin of COVID-19. However, China regards this as a "U.S. conspiracy."

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