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Coronavirus Research in China: Origins, International Networks and Consequences

Organisation: NTS-ASIA

Authors: Ryan Clarke and Lam Peng Er
Research Themes:
Health security
Type: Monograph
2 June 2021

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Executive Summary

Arguably, the greatest human security threat on a global scale since the end of World War II is the COVID-19 pandemic. By May 2021, more than 3.4 million lives were lost, and global travel, trade and supply chains were severely disrupted. Millions of jobs were also lost and many people were reduced to penury. Instead of being drawn closer to mitigate this unprecedented human security crisis since the 1918-20 Spanish flu pandemic, the US and Chinese superpowers were in an acrimonious debate over the origins of COVID-19.

Our research, based on open-sourced material in English and Chinese, avoids a speculation on the unknown origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its focus is on the dense international links of Chinese civilian virology labs. We note that China and the United States and its allies have cooperated on high-risk viral research for decades.

The outline of the monograph is as follows. In chapter one, we explain why the United States and its allies trained many Chinese virologists in the context of the bi-polar Cold War in the face of a common enemy, the Soviet superpower. The next chapter presents two case studies of the most advanced civilian BSL4 labs in China — the WIV and the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute (HVRI). This chapter explains the drivers of international partnerships in risky viral research. Chapter three empirically maps the dense transnational networks between Western and Chinese virology labs. This includes the USAID PREDICT and EcoHealth Alliance’s funding and “sub-contracting” of viral research to the WIV. In the final chapter, we discuss the future of Chinese virology labs and their transnational links. This chapter concludes that as the PRC (People’s Republic of China) is enhancing its capability in virology research and in dealing with deadly pandemics, it is emerging as a comprehensive superpower in the military, diplomatic, economic, cultural and pathogen domains.

Another conclusion from our research is that transnational virology research is like an “anarchical society” where international collaboration between the unregulated scientific communities of China, the West and Japan has often been ignored by many national governments and regional organisations like the EU (European Union) and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the UNSC (United Nations Security Council). Simply put, this lacuna in the global governance of deadly pathogen research has troubling implications for human security.

 

About the Author

Ryan CLARKE is a Senior Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. His has held leadership positions in defence and intelligence technology companies (full spectrum), investment banking, biodefense, strategic think tanks, emergency response organisations, and specialised law enforcement units. He is the author of three books and over 70 journal articles. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge where he was awarded the Salje Medal for the most innovative research.

LAM Peng Er is a Principal Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. He obtained his PhD from Columbia University. Lam is the editor of three academic journals: International Relations of the Asia-Pacific: A Journal of the Japan Association of International Relations (Oxford University Press), Asian Journal of Peacebuilding (Seoul National University) and East Asian Policy: An International Quarterly (East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore).