During the COVID-19 pandemic, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waxed eloquent about suspicions by former President Trump that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had precipitated the pandemic, calling such claims racist.
But in 2009, Clinton allegedly warned in a State Department cable that was obtained by WikiLeaks that the work done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology could lead to “biological weapons proliferation concern,” Jack Posobiec of Human Events reports.
“The cable, obtained via Wikileaks, was sent from the State Department in June 2009 to all embassies in member nations ahead of the Australia Group plenary session in Paris, September 21-25, 2009,” Posobiec noted, adding, “The Australia Group is an international export control forum organized to prevent the spread of technologies and research that could be used in chemical and biological weapons.”
Clinton wrote: “We believe it is important to focus on emerging chemical and biological technologies, trends in the trade of CBW-related goods and threats.” (CBW stands for chemical and biological weapons.)
Addressing France, she stated, “The U.S. believes participants would benefit from hearing about your experiences assisting China in setting up a Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology from the export control and intangible technology transfer perspectives. We are particularly interested to know how China plans to vet incoming foreign researchers from countries of biological weapons proliferation concern.”
She cautioned, “The U.S. believes AG members would be interested in any information you can share related to China and North Korea, specifically information related to:
- China’s Institutes of Biological Products (locations in Beijing and Wuhan), to include overhead imagery analysis, if possible.
- Your perceptions of the CBW proliferation activities by Chinese entities.
- Your perceptions of Chinese government efforts to enforce its export control rules.”
In March 2020, after Trump had used the term “Chinese virus” to describe COVID-19, Clinton snapped that Trump was using “racist rhetoric,” tweeting, “The president is turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously early on, make tests widely available, and adequately prepare the country for a period of crisis. Don’t fall for it. Don’t let your friends and family fall for it.”
The president is turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously early on, make tests widely available, and adequately prepare the country for a period of crisis.
Don't fall for it. Don't let your friends and family fall for it.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 18, 2020
After a Chinese government spokesman argued that the U.S. Army brought COVID-19 to the United States, Trump said bluntly, “China was putting out information, which was false, that our military gave this to them. That was false. And rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China so I think it’s a very accurate term.”
Accused of being racist for using the term “Chinese virus,” Trump replied, “It’s not racist at all. It comes from China, that’s why. I want to be accurate.”
As late as the end of March this year, Clinton was still referring to Trump’s “racist rhetoric,” tweeting, “This week I spoke to @SenDuckworth about the recent rise in anti-Asian bigotry fueled by Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric, her own experiences with prejudice, and what we can all do to help #StopAsian Hate.”
This week I spoke to @SenDuckworth about the recent rise in anti-Asian bigotry fueled by Donald Trump's racist rhetoric, her own experiences with prejudice, and what we can all do to help #StopAsianHate.
Listen to this week's episode of You and Me Both.https://t.co/GldksXul9Y pic.twitter.com/fCmgTCIpmA
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 31, 2021