Did China Evergrande pay Harvard to cover-up COVID origins?
A payment from China Evergrande to Harvard Medical School has become the focus of a probe into whether the origins of COVID-19 were covered up by top United States officials.
Asia Markets has examined a letter sent from Republican Senator Marco Rubio to the President of Harvard University, Dr. Lawrence Bacow, which demands more information about a $115 million pledge the University received from Evergrande in February of 2020.
In the letter, Rubio refers to a report that suggests Evergrande, which has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, was trying to buy access to influential American virology experts, including Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The article points out that shortly after the Evergrande payment, U.S. scientists and public health officials, including Dr. Fauci, publicly dismissed the possibility that COVID emerged as a result of a research-related incident.
That has raised eyebrows given there is evidence that days earlier the same scientists were discussing the theory the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China – and deeming it plausible.
“The coincidental timing of these events suggests the possibility of a quid pro quo, whereby Harvard officials, in return for a large donation from Evergrande, contacted American public health officials to convince them that Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) preferred theory of the origin of COVID-19 was the only theory that should be seriously considered,” Senator Rubio writes.
“The CCP’s outreach to Harvard through Evergrande is consistent with the CCP’s past attempts to influence decision-making in other countries, including the United States, through non-traditional means as well as influential actors in the private sector and civil society.”
The Senator claims that while Evergrande is a private company, the laws of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) make it clear that all companies must comply with CCP directives.
“The Australian government has rightly declared that ‘there is no such thing’ as a “private company” in the PRC,” he said.
China Evergrande Harvard offer reneged
The Boston Globe has reported that in January 2022, almost two years after Evergrande’s pledge, the debt-ridden company reneged on the offer. In the end, it reportedly only paid Harvard $12 million.
Regardless, Senator Rubio quite understandably is demanding answers as to why a debt-crippled real estate giant would make a multi-million dollar donation.