Coronavirus: Enormous evidence virus from Wuhan lab says Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo’s claim is the strongest against China so far and adds to pressure on Beijing to explain the origins of the virus.

Mike Pompeo claims the virus almost certainly originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Picture: AFP.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says there is now ‘enormous evidence’ that coronavirus came from a research laboratory in Wuhan in China.

His comments are the strongest US claim so far linking the virus to Chinese scientists and will add to pressure on China to explain the origins of the virus that has cut a swath of death and economic pain across the world.

“There is enormous evidence that that (a Wuhan lab) is where this began,’ Mr Pompeo said.

“Remember, China has a history of infecting the world and they have a history of running substandard laboratories. These are not the first times that we’ve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab.”

“And so while the Intelligence Community continues to do its work, they should continue to do that and verify so that we are certain, I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan,’ he said.

The Chinese Communist Party continues to block access to the Western world, the world's best scientists, refusing to cooperate with world health experts, to figure out exactly what happened. This unacceptable during an ongoing threat, an ongoing pandemic. pic.twitter.com/qa156CfTAB

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 3, 2020

Mr Pompeo also invoked Australia as one of the countries that understood how poorly China has behaved in trying to conceal from the world the initial outbreak of the virus and its dangerous nature.

“China behaved like authoritarian regimes do. It attempted to conceal and hide and confuse. It employed the World Health Organisation as a tool to do the same … the Australians agree with that. You hear the Europeans beginning to say the same thing. I think the whole world is united in understanding that China brought this virus to the world,’ Mr Pompeo said.

The US intelligence community announced last week it was investigating whether a research laboratory in Wuhan was the original source of the virus, a claim strongly denied by China.

Mr Pompeo did not say whether he believed the virus was leaked from the lab accidentally or intentionally.

The most common explanation for the outbreak of the virus was that it originated through animals, most likely bats, at a wet market in Wuhan.

Donald Trump said last week that he had seen evidence that gave him a high degree of confidence that the virus originated in a Chinese lab but said he wasn’t permitted to say any more.

The office of the US Director of Intelligence says it will “rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence” to determine whether the outbreak began with infected animals or whether “it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”

Mr Pompeo’s comments come as the US, and many countries in the west, including Australia, increase pressure on China to be more transparent about the origins of the coronavirus.

Mr Pompeo has backed Scott Morrison’s has called for an International inquiry into the origins of the virus – a call which promoted threats by China of economic retaliation against Australia.

The Trump administration has stepped up in attacks on China in recent weeks for its role in covering up the initial outbreak of the virus and hiding from the world the truth about its lethality and spread.

“Here’s what’s important, The Chinese Communist Party had the opportunity to prevent all of the calamity that has befallen the world, and here we find ourselves today,’ Mr Pompeo said.

“This is an enormous crisis created by the fact that the Chinese Communist Party reverted to form, reverted to the kinds of disinformation, the kinds of concealment, that authoritarian regimes do,’ Mr Pompeo said.

China’s role in the pandemic has increased hostility towards Beijing in the US. A Pew Search Centre survey released last month found more than two-thirds of Americans have a negative view of China – the highest level since the centre’s surveys began in 2005.

Mr Trump is expected to make China a major target during his upcoming presidential election campaign.

A recent Republican National Committee poll found that 51 per cent of voters in 17 swing states blame China the most for the coronavirus.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia