U.S. funded Chinese research

Three federal government agencies provided millions of dollars directly to Chinese research centers between 2015 and 2021, according to a report by the congressional watchdog Governmental Accountability Office. The Pentagon, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health supplied $28.9 million to Chinese universities and research centers, GAO auditors found. Additional U.S. funds were sent to Chinese research centers through "Subawards" to U.S. and other firms that then supplied the money to China. CDC-funded research in China included work on "Pathogenicity of emerging, re-emerging, and novel viruses and vaccination coverage and effectiveness." The GAO said it could not determine how much of the subawards went to China because of rules that allow awardees to keep data secret. Direct funds were not supplied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese laboratory engaged in risky work of manipulating bat coronaviruses to create strains more infectious to humans, called "Gain of function" research. Critics of the funding have said all U.S. money should be cut off to Chinese research centers until Beijing fully reveals the activities at the Wuhan site. The report said the threats include extreme weather and wildfires, although it was not clear from the report how the weather poses a threat to the service and its mission.