Germany's foreign intelligence agency, known as the BND, had reportedly concluded that there was an 80-90% chance that the coronavirus pandemic was sparked by an accidental leak from a Chinese laboratory. Details of this assessment were revealed by two German newspapers, which reported that the BND had gathered evidence suggesting the Wuhan Institute of Virology was conducting experiments to enhance the transmissibility of viruses for research purposes.
China has persistently denied allegations of a lab leak, advocating that any determination of the virus's origin should be made by scientists. They reference a World Health Organization (WHO) investigation that labeled the lab leak theory as "extremely unlikely." The question of the pandemic's origins remains contentious. While the lab leak hypothesis has been systematically disputed by a segment of the scientific community, intelligence agencies have been considering the possibility more seriously. The BND's investigation, known as Project Saaremaa and conducted in 2020, rated the lab leak theory as "likely" despite lacking definitive proof and identified multiple safety regulation breaches at the laboratory.
The assessment was commissioned under former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration and kept confidential until now. It was reported that the BND shared its findings with the CIA last autumn, which acknowledged in January that a "research-related origin" of the virus was more plausible than natural zoonotic transmission, but with low confidence in that conclusion.
In light of these developments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated that the origin of Covid-19 should be ascertained through scientific inquiry, highlighting the WHO's early findings that dismissed the lab leak as a credible source. The WHO's mission to Wuhan in early 2021, where they spent 12 days investigating the virus's origins, ultimately concluded that a leak was "extremely unlikely." Critics, however, argue that the report did not adequately explore the lab-leak theory, which was only briefly mentioned in the lengthy document.
While the natural origins hypothesis, suggesting Covid-19 emerged from bats before infecting humans, was widely accepted early on, the lack of direct evidence for this theory has led to growing skepticism among some scientists. As investigations continue, the questions surrounding the origins of Covid-19 remain a vital and complex topic of discussion and inquiry on the international stage.
