French Intelligence Warned Obama State Department About Wuhan Lab in 2015: Former U.S. Official

In 2015, French intelligence officials warned the Obama State Department that China was ‘cutting back on agreed collaboration at the lab’ – which France helped to build with the understanding that the two nations would work together.

By 2017, France had been ‘kicked out’ of the lab, and cooperation had ceased, leading French officials to once again warn the US State Department of ‘grave concerns’ as to Chinese motivations, former State official David Asher told the Daily Caller.

The State Department alleged in January 2021, at the end of the Trump administration, that the Wuhan lab had engaged in classified research on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017.

The State Department did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

On Thursday, China said it would not allow the World Health Organization to inspect the lab further. China has blocked the WHO from accessing important records at the lab. -DCNF

“The Chinese basically sucked State into its honey pot operation to gain access to U.S. technology, knowledge, and material support. Classic. Just as they have done in every sector,” said Asher.

According to USAID, the US Agency for International Development provided $1.1 million to US-based NGO EcoHealth Alliance for a sub-agreement with the Wuhan Institute of Virology – on top of millions received from the Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and $600,000 annual grant from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institutes of Health.

In short, after the Obama administration paused Gain-of-Function research, US entities funneled money through EcoHealth to continue it, despite France’s warning.

According to Asher, the NIH, DoD and USAID should have ceased federal funding in 2015.

More from the Daily Caller:

France provided the lab’s design, biosafety training, and much of its technology.

The French envisioned the Wuhan institute as an open and transparent lab that would serve the global scientific community in studying potential pandemics, according to a State Department cable in April 2018, citing a Wuhan-based French consulate official who worked on science and technology cooperation with China.

While top French politicians supported the collaboration, French security and defense experts did not, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported.

National security officials did not want to share sensitive technology with an oppressive country that was not an ally and they feared the lab could one day be transformed into a “biological arsenal,” according to Le Figaro.

Meanwhile, the State Department under Hillary Clinton expressed concerns about the Wuhan Lab – and had asked France if they knew how China planned to ensure incoming foreign researchers to avoid technology theft to countries with weapons proliferation concerns, according to WikiLeaks.

Read the rest of the report here.

Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission