Beijing denial over bio-weapons

Beijing has denied it is producing bio-weapons in response to The Australian’s revelation its military scientists discussed weaponising SARS coronavirus five years before the emergence of COVID-19.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying. Picture: AP

Beijing has denied it is producing bio-weapons in response to The Australian’s revelation its ­military scientists discussed weapon­ising SARS coronavirus five years before the emergence of COVID-19.

The Weekend Australian’s exclusive reporting has raised questions about the origins of the pandemic. The reports were based on a document, written by People’s Liberation Army scientists and senior Chinese public health officials in 2015, obtained by the US State Department.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the country did not develop, research or produce bio-­weapons.

“China has always strictly ­fulfilled its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention,” Ms Hua told a press conference.

But former head of China analysis in Australia’s Defence Department Paul Monk warned that when Beijing made statements on sensitive matters, “they cannot be believed”.

“There are reasons to believe they have biological weapons. We cannot trust their word,” he told The Australian.

“Their credibility is shot because they have withheld information from the recent Wuhan inquiry.

“We have reasons to be concerned about China — there is every reason to explore this ­territory.”

Ms Hua also accused the US of conducting a “smear campaign” against China.

“Some in the US take every opportunity to cite and play up so-called ‘internal documents’ and ‘reports’ to denigrate and smear China.

“However, facts and truth always prove that they are either the offender playing the defendant, or making vicious interpretations by taking words out of context or with presumption of guilt, or spreading sheer lies,” she said.

Ms Hua said there were already media reports saying the document, obtained by the US State Department, was a “piece of openly available academic work”.

“It cited relevant research by former US Colonel Michael Ainscough and pointed out that ‘next-generation bio-weapons’ are part of US Air Force projects which are aimed at helping the US to better cope with the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

“The argument by Ainscough shows that it is the US that is researching the technology of genetic engineering applied to bio-warfare and bio-terrorism.”

Ms Hua also said a number of countries were “gravely concerned” about bio-labs built by the US on its shores and overseas.

She said there had been reporting of the US having 200 bio-labs overseas in regions such as Africa and the Middle East.

“The sites of where some bio-labs are based have seen outbreaks of large-scale infectious diseases,” Ms Hua said.