Following the 2003 SARS outbreak, France and China signed an agreement in 2004 to build a new biosafety lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology to “fight and prevent new diseases”.
France provided the lab’s design, biosafety training, and much of its technology before the BSL-4 level lab – now at the centre of storm over an alleged lab leak – officially opened in 2018.
And under the agreement between Paris and Beijing, some 50 French scientists were sent to help train the Chinese lab workers and supervise the work of the researchers.
But cooperation between France and China came to a halt in 2017 when the French scientists were “kicked out”, prompting concerns about China’s motivations, Asher said.
National security officials did not want to share sensitive technology with China as they feared the lab could one day be transformed into a “biological arsenal”, according to Le Figaro.
“The Chinese basically sucked State into its honey pot operation to gain access to US technology, knowledge, and material support. Classic. Just as they have done in every sector,” Asher said.