NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Watch: Chinese scientist claims Covid-19 started in 'military lab' after fleeing to US

NZ Herald
3 Aug, 2020 12:32 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Dr Li Meng-Yan, a virology specialist from Hong Kong, fled to the US in fear she would be "disappeared" by Chinese forces over her findings and beliefs. Photo / Fox News

Dr Li Meng-Yan, a virology specialist from Hong Kong, fled to the US in fear she would be "disappeared" by Chinese forces over her findings and beliefs. Photo / Fox News

A Chinese medical expert, who fled to the US, has backed claims that the Covid-19 pandemic began in a military lab and was covered up by Chinese officials.

Dr Li Meng-Yan, a virology specialist from Hong Kong, fled to the US in fear she would be "disappeared" by Chinese forces over her findings and beliefs.

She told Fox News the Chinese government censored her work, and her findings could have saved lives across the globe.

"This is a huge pandemic we have seen in the world," Yan Li-Meng told host Bill Hemmer.

"It's more than anything we've known in human history. So, the timing is very, very important. If we can stop it early, we can save lives."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Dr Li Meng-Yan, a virology specialist from Hong Kong, fled to the US in fear she would be "disappeared" by Chinese forces over her findings and beliefs. Photo / Fox News
Dr Li Meng-Yan, a virology specialist from Hong Kong, fled to the US in fear she would be "disappeared" by Chinese forces over her findings and beliefs. Photo / Fox News

Meng-Yan told Fox News she believes the Chinese government knew about Covid-19 at least a month before publically acknowledging there was an outbreak.

She said her supervisor first asked her to conduct a "secret" investigation into the new virus at the end of last year.

Then she claimed her supervisors, known as some of the top experts in the field, ignored her own research and said to not cross the government's "red line" and to "keep silent and be careful".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I have to hide because I know how they treat whistleblowers, and as a whistleblower here I want to tell the truth of Covid-19 and the origin of the SARS-2 Covid virus," Yan told Fox News Digital.

One of Dr Meng-Yan's core claims is that while studying person-to-person transmission of the virus, her findings indicate it came from a research facility linked to the People's Liberation Army.

She said the Wuhan wet market was "used as a decoy".

Dr Li said she her supervisor first asked her to conduct a 'secret' investigation into the new virus at the end of last year. Photo / Getty
Dr Li said she her supervisor first asked her to conduct a 'secret' investigation into the new virus at the end of last year. Photo / Getty

Dr Meng-Yan told Hemmer the government knew in December more than 40 citizens had been infected by Covid-19 and that "human-to-human transmissions were already occurring" at the time.

Discover more

World

'Big China virus breakout': Trump's cocky reaction to Victoria crisis

03 Aug 03:33 AM
New Zealand|politics

China eyes suspension of extradition deal with NZ - report

03 Aug 09:34 AM

Several governments around the world have criticised China's reluctance to share information about the virus.

An intelligence dossier compiled by the Five Eyes intelligence agencies which was leaked to an Australian newspaper in May stated that Chinese authorities denied that the virus could be spread between humans until January 20, "despite evidence of human-human transmission from early December". As late as January 14, the World Health Organisation had stated that there was "no clear evidence" for human-to-human transmission of Covid-19.

While the current believed theory is that Covid-19 was not manmade or genetically modified, US President Donald Trump has raised the issue of human interference more than once.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions

15 Jun 09:31 AM
World

'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks

15 Jun 08:34 AM
World

Israeli cities struck by Iranian missiles, 10 dead, many injured

15 Jun 06:24 AM

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions

UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions

15 Jun 09:31 AM

Keir Starmer announced the move as he headed to Canada for G7 talks.

'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks

'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks

15 Jun 08:34 AM
Israeli cities struck by Iranian missiles, 10 dead, many injured

Israeli cities struck by Iranian missiles, 10 dead, many injured

15 Jun 06:24 AM
'Discarded': Mass grave excavation uncovers Ireland's dark history of child burials

'Discarded': Mass grave excavation uncovers Ireland's dark history of child burials

15 Jun 04:48 AM
The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE
sponsored

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP