The CIA has determined that the origin of Covid-19 is likely linked to a laboratory leak in China, according to a new assessment regarding the pandemic that has resulted in millions of fatalities. The agency stated that it reached this conclusion with “low confidence,” marking a change from its earlier stance, which indicated insufficient evidence to draw any conclusions.
In a statement released on a Saturday, the CIA said, “We assess with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more probable than a natural origin based on available reporting.” It also noted that both potential scenarios—research-related and natural origins—remain feasible.
For the past four years, the U.S. intelligence community, which consists of 18 agencies, has been exploring the origins of Covid-19 to ascertain whether it arose naturally from a wet market in Wuhan or if it leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The CIA now joins the FBI and the Department of Energy in suggesting that the virus came from the Wuhan laboratory, but it maintains that it has “low confidence in this judgment” and will keep evaluating new credible intelligence or open-source information that might impact this assessment.
This new conclusion was made public shortly after John Ratcliffe assumed the role of CIA director. In an interview after his confirmation, Ratcliffe expressed his belief that both intelligence and common sense indicated that Covid’s origins stemmed from a leak at the Wuhan facility, emphasizing a commitment to shifting the agency’s approach.
An official conveyed that Bill Burns, who led the CIA during the Biden administration, instructed the assessment team to reach a conclusion regarding Covid-19’s origins without dictating a specific outcome. Burns’ instruction coincided with a directive from Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, for the intelligence community to revisit the pandemic’s origins as the outgoing Biden administration was preparing to exit.
It was emphasized that the CIA’s updated assessment occurred prior to Ratcliffe’s inauguration as director.
A Republican senator supported the findings, asserting that he believed Covid most likely came from the Wuhan labs and condemned China for its alleged cover-up. He expressed approval that the CIA identified the lab-leak theory as a plausible explanation and called for accountability from China.
The Chinese embassy in the United States did not issue a response to requests for comments following the release of the CIA report.
This assessment emerged just over a week after former President Trump’s first phone discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping since 2021. Despite expectations of a tough stance on China regarding trade, Trump has not pursued aggressive actions against Beijing in his initial weeks back in office.
In a recent interview, Trump remarked that while tariffs provided significant leverage over China, he preferred not to utilize that power. He also signed an executive order extending the deadline for the Chinese owner of TikTok to divest from the platform to avoid a U.S. ban.
photo credit: www.ft.com
