A FORMER US trade delegate has claimed he was forced to flee China after visiting the Wuhan lab and raising concerns about deadly virus tests.
Ron Fleming compared the under-fire lab at the centre of the storm over the origins of Covid to a "military camp" when he visited in the late 1990s – and believes he found the "first piece of the puzzle".
The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been at the centre of the lab leak controversy ever since Covid first emerged just a stone's throw from the facility – which was known to be studying very similar bat viruses.
Many scientists and intelligence officials suspect bungling researchers at the lab accidentally spread Covid during risky experiments on bat coronaviruses.
With a background in bioengineering, Ron was working for the US Foreign Commercial Services promoting products in Wuhan when he stumbled across what he described as "a clandestine laboratory".
It was a routine business trip in 1998 for the 62-year-old until he was called in to probe a mystery virus sweeping through a group of fish in a lake.
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It turned out the lake was located just metres from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
After ruling out any other causes of the virus, he was convinced the nearby lab was playing a role in the deaths of the virus-riddled fish.
He believes he uncovered the Wuhan Institute of Virology's "sinister secret" – claiming scientists were deliberately targeting and carrying out virus experiments on the fish.
After making the discovery, Ron said he was forced to flee China as he avoided Communist Party officials and the Chinese military.
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He returned to Hong Kong and immediately told US diplomats about the lab and his suspicions – but nothing was done.
In his book, Wuhan Unleashed, Ron said: "Whatever was happening was apparently targeted.
"Worse yet, they could have possibly genetically modified a virus.
"Every potential answer seemed more terrifying by the minute.
"I always knew something was wrong. I was always afraid something was going to happen."
During his visit to the lake, Ron described the moment he saw the sprawling Wuhan lab in the distance – and suspected the deaths of the fish must be related to the lab.
He recalled a vast array of satellite dishes, huge antenna towers and high-level security.
After finishing up at the lake, Ron and his translator headed to their next appointment.
His translator, Mike, said they were heading to a lab to present rapid tests for diseases such as cholera, malaria and bird flu.
But Ron described the alarming moment he realised their meeting was at the heavily-guarded Wuhan lab – the facility Ron had seen in the distance.
Ron immediately suspected something was wrong – and said he was overcome with panic.
"I said, 'oh my god, this is where the leak is coming from, this is where I think everything is happening'," he said.
"I had to leave, I didn't know if we were being monitored."
As he approached the now-infamous lab, he described a vast building guarded closely by Chinese military with steel barriers for blockades.
Ron told The Sun it felt like a "military camp".
"It was all military," he told The Sun. "It wasn't civilians. I knew it was a military lab.
"It doesn't look like it does today. 20 years ago, there weren't a lot of outsiders coming in. That whole area was a whole quarantine area.
"It was really spooky. The military were watching it all the time."
Panicked Ron said he was also worried the lab was "being monitored by an adversary that could possibly exploit our presence".
"I did not want to be seen entering the building, nor did I want to enter the building," he said.
"Being a civilian doing trade, I was worried I would be considered to be a spy.
"That's why I wanted to get out of the country. We tried to get out without letting them realise what we'd found out."
He said he immediately questioned how a potential virus was being released from the facility.
He asked: "Was it accidental? Were they conducting research outside the lab? I was convinced that my theories were accurate.
"The CCP was trying to manipulate a virus… and they were also potentially in the beginning stages of trying to alter, enhance, or manipulate the DNA structure of a virus, which is known as gain-of-function research.
"During the late 1990s, the United States was only at the beginning stages of gain-of-function research.
"This is just one of many reasons our discovery was so concerning and alarming."
I always knew something was wrong. I was always afraid something was going to happen
Unnerved by the military presence at the lab and his suspicions, Ron decided to cancel the meeting, rush back to his hotel with Mike and head to the airport to flee Wuhan.
When he arrived, he claims several military officials were sitting in the lobby who "watched our every move".
"We knew those guys were there to monitor us because Mike was friends with the hotel manager who tipped us off," he writes in his book.
"Thankfully, our ride to the airport was waiting outside the lobby door.
"About halfway through the flight, I asked Mike if he thought the authorities had been alerted – or if he thought they knew that we had suspicions about the lab.
"Mike looked out the plane window, thought for a minute, and turned back to me and said 'I think they know'.
"Pretending there was a scheduling error with the lab appointment (hopefully) bought us sufficient time to exit China."
Ron said he got in touch with the US Embassy and his trade bosses to let them know about their experience – and his suspicions about the lab.
He believed officials would monitor the lab and make the site a "no-go" zone for US nationals doing business in China.
But in 2014, New York-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance was given a grant from the US government to study bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
After his visit, Ron said he has always suspected the Wuhan lab "to be a cover for a bioweapons research facility".
A report by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence claimed Covid might have been linked to a secret Chinese bioweapons programme – and accidentally leaked.
"Back when I discovered the lab, I was fairly certain we had stumbled across the CCP's bioresearch program," Ron said.
"My primary focus at the time was to determine if they had the knowledge and tools to make genetic changes to a virus.
"At the time, it was highly unlikely the CCP had the knowledge or tools to genetically splice a virus.
"However, it was clear they were experimenting and trying to achieve the goal of enhancing or manipulating a virus."
The FBI and the US Department of Energy now believe Covid most likely leaked from a lab in China.
And declassified intelligence documents confirmed Wuhan scientists first fell sick in late 2019 with Covid-like symptoms – raising questions over whether they were accidentally infected in the lab.
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As previously reported by The Sun, a bombshell study uncovered a number of unnerving biosafety hazards at "crowded and chaotic" labs in Wuhan – including filthy animal cages and crumbling sewers.
China has long been accused of attempting to cover up or distort its role in the story of Covid – something it denies.
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