US taxpayer funds flowed to Chinese entities that conducted coronavirus research before COVID pandemic: GAO

FIRST ON FOX: An independent watchdog agency found that U.S. taxpayer funds flowed to Chinese entities known for conducting coronavirus research, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology and an arm of the People’s Liberation Army, ahead of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The findings are included in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report titled "NIH Could Take Additional Actions to Manage Risks Involving Foreign Subrecipients," first obtained by Fox News Digital.

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The GAO, a nonpartisan agency which investigates federal spending, found that U.S. taxpayer dollars from two federal agencies — the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — directed funds to American universities and the non-profit EcoHealth Alliance. 

The report found those funds were subsequently redirected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology as well as the Wuhan University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), which is an arm of the People’s Liberation Army of the Chinese Communist Party.

The report comes after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, lead Republicans in demanding that the GAO conduct a "comprehensive accounting of all public funds the United States Government disbursed" to the Chinese entities from January 2014 through December 2021. Turner and Wenstrup made that request to the GAO in April 2022. 

"The selected entities are government institutions or laboratories in China that conduct work on infectious diseases, including pandemic viruses, and have had actions taken by federal agencies to address safety or security concerns," the report states. "All three selected Chinese entities received funds."

The report states that between 2014 and 2021, all three Chinese entities received more than $2 million combined from the U.S. government "through seven subawards" the GAO identified.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided $200,000 directly to Wuhan University for a period of March 2018 through February 2020. Neither the Wuhan Institute of Virology nor the Academy of Military Medical Sciences received money directly from NIH during that time period.

However, all three selected entities received "first-tier subawards."

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The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) received more than $1.4 million in U.S. taxpayer funds between June 2014 and May 2020, the report states.

NIH awarded EcoHealth Alliance funds, which then provided $598,611 in funds to the WIV for a period of June 2014 to May 2019. Those funds went towards research to assess the transmission of bat coronaviruses to humans. The research included conducting RNA extractions and DNA sequencing on bat samples, and conducting biological experiments on pathogen spillover from bats to humans.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the University of California, Davis funds, which then provided the WIV $815,109 for a research period between October 2014 to September 2019. Those funds went towards pathogen detection research, including conducting DNA barcoding of bat and rodent samples, and testing human and animal samples from study sites in Yunnan and Guangdong provinces. The research also included testing, cloning and sequencing bat samples that tested positive for coronaviruses and influenza viruses.

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Next, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, an arm of the People’s Liberation Army, received $514,129 in taxpayer funds between August 2014 and July 2019.

NIH awarded Duke University funds, which then awarded those funds — $514,129 — to AMMS. Those funds went towards research on assessing transmission of swine influenza virus to humans. The research included collecting biological samples and performing molecular detention of influenza in biological samples from Chinese swine workers.

Next, Wuhan University received $240,496 in U.S. taxpayer funds between June 2015 and September 2016.

NIH awarded EcoHealth Alliance funds. EcoHealth Alliance awarded $201,221 to Wuhan University for the period of June 2015 to May 2017. The funds went towards disease surveillance research activities, including collection of biological samples from individuals in China with high levels of exposure to bats for Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct further screening.

USAID awarded funds to the University of California, Davis, which went on to award Wuhan University $39,275 in September 2016. Those funds went towards collecting biological samples of individuals with exposure to bats, and to later collaborate with the Wuhan Institute of Virology on "viral detection." 

"Today, the GAO confirmed that U.S. taxpayer dollars awarded from the National Institutes of Health and USAID were ultimately used for research by entities in China, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was known to be doing coronavirus research," Turner and Wenstrup told Fox News Digital. "This revelation is very concerning due to the increased focus on the ‘lab leak’ theory, which suggests that the virus may have originated from the Wuhan laboratory rather than through natural means." 

They added: "We have long argued that the American people deserve the truth about COVID-19’s origin and continue to take concrete actions to declassify intelligence related to the pandemic." 

The Energy Department and the FBI have determined that COVID-19 likely emerged from a lab leak in China. However, this hasn’t been connected directly to any U.S. funding. 

NIH, in April, told Fox News Digital it never approved any research that would make a coronavirus more dangerous to humans, an agency spokesperson said. 

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"The research we supported in China, where coronaviruses are prevalent, sought to understand the behavior of coronaviruses circulating in bats that have the potential to cause widespread disease," an NIH told Fox News Digital in a statement in April. "Importantly, because of NIH-funded research to understand coronaviruses, the U.S. was able to move swiftly to develop vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and save lives."

The NIH spokesperson continued, "The administration also continues to work with partners around the world to press China to fully share information and to cooperate with international investigations to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19, a priority for this administration."

Fox News' Fred Lucas contributed to this report.