Germany’s foreign intelligence service believed there was a 80-90% chance that coronavirus accidentally leaked from a Chinese lab, German media say. Two German newspapers say they have uncovered details of an assessment carried out by spy agency BND in 2020 but never published.

The intelligence service had indications that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had been carrying out experiments where viruses are modified to become more transmissible to humans for research, they say.

China repeated its denial saying the cause “should be determined by scientists” - and pointed to a World Health Organization investigation which found the lab-leak theory was “extremely unlikely”.

The lab leak hypothesis has been hotly contested by scientists, including many who say there is no definitive evidence to back it up. But the once controversial theory has been gaining ground among some intelligence agencies - and the BND is the latest to entertain the theory. In January, the US CIA said the coronavirus was “more likely” to have leaked from a lab than to have come from animals.

  • tfm@europe.pub
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    44 minutes ago

    Does it really matter? Many laboratories around the world experiment with highly dangerous viruses and that one leaked. Not that I like it but it’s still a fact.

  • afronaut@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    30
    arrow-down
    15
    ·
    1 day ago

    We’re supposed to trust spies working for nation-states that support Israel?

    • Coding4Fun@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      Although I think the support to Israel (which I am against too) does not play a role in the sake of this argument, I agree with you: it independent scientists couldn’t find scientific evidences to support that, spies are for sure not reliable.

      • afronaut@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        Okay, thank you for getting that. In retrospect, I can see how my comment might be perceived as potentially antisemitic but, I’m coming from an anti-imperialist perspective. And, the West is going to keep flooding us with anti-East and anti-Middle East propaganda.

        So, to me, Germany’s support of Israel and their demonization of China is one and the same.

    • Inucune@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      14
      ·
      1 day ago

      Not every news article and decision on the world revolves around Israel and/or Gaza.

      • afronaut@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        15
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 day ago

        My point is we shouldn’t be trusting spy agencies working on behalf of nation states at all, which includes pushing geopolitical narratives with the aim of Western supremacy.

        “The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.” -1984

  • wurzelgummidge@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    54
    ·
    2 days ago

    But the once controversial theory has been gaining ground among some intelligence agencies

    ie someone at the CIA who wont put their name to it, and a couple of corporate owned German newspapers who they fed it to

  • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    51
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    2 days ago

    It doesn’t matter where it came from! It doesn’t change the fact that the government and corporations left us die, then they picked over our carcasses.

  • HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    41
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 days ago

    They keep “believing” that’s what happened because they have not presented any concrete evidence that can be used to get rid of that qualifier.

      • SinAdjetivos@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 minutes ago

        The context for the DEFUSE program is that SARS-cov-1 was of pretty significant concern that it could mutate into a global pandemic similar to the Cov-2 pandemic that actually happened. The program was funded to investigate, learn and prepare for what were predicted to be some of the more dangerous possible mutations.

        The “smoking gun” here is all correlation. Saying “they predicted correctly what was dangerous and were proactively studying it” is not a good argument for causation.

        However, the theory that I haven’t seen well debunked/studied is that improper handling/disposal of dead viruses/plasmids/etc. increased the risk of/allowed for recombinants with the endemic Cov strain resulting in those mutations of greatest concern… Have you come across anything on that?

      • wisely@feddit.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 day ago

        Yeah makes me not want to watch anything on there. Wife was watching some true crime and I was so confused on why they kept saying essay (SA) and grape.

        • stray@pawb.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          18 hours ago

          Can you please censor ess*y in the future so that it’ll be more difficult for me to filter automatically and actually make me way more likely to get triggered? Thanks.

  • Bloomcole@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    28
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    “Germany’s foreign intelligence” LOL
    And who wouldn’t trust the BBC mouthpiece?

  • mlg@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    27
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    2 days ago

    BBC

    Go back to sleep, this is just repeat cope for failing to handle a pandemic and shifting the blame to another country.

  • davel [he/him]@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    Reporter: [REDACTED]
    Reason: misinformation

    What, we’re supposed to remove UK state-affiliated media articles about German state intelligence assessments?

    • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      9
      ·
      2 days ago

      They are so well trained that even when their own governments retroactively admit they lied, they will not believe it and still say lab leak is a conspiracy theory.

  • davel [he/him]@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    2 days ago

    The SARS-CoV-2 gain of function research was going on under Fauci’s watch.

    Jeffrey Sachs:

  • sittinonatoilet@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    2 days ago

    Two German newspapers say they have uncovered details of an assessment carried out by spy agency BND in 2020 but never published.

    But the once controversial theory has been gaining ground among some intelligence agencies - and the BND is the latest to entertain the theory.