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China hid coronavirus severity to hoard supplies, says US intelligence report

US officials believe China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak — and how contagious the disease is — to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show.

Chinese leaders "intentionally concealed the severity" of the pandemic from the world in early January, according to a four-page Department of Homeland Security intelligence report dated May 1.

The revelation comes as the Trump administration intensified its criticism of China, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying on Sunday that that country was responsible for the spread of disease and must be held accountable.

The sharper rhetoric coincides with administration critics saying the US Government's response to the virus was slow and inadequate.

President Donald Trump's political opponents have accused him of lashing out at China, a geopolitical foe but critical US trading partner, in an attempt to deflect criticism at home

Not classified but marked "for official use only," the Department of Homeland Security analysis states that, while downplaying the severity of the coronavirus, China increased imports and decreased exports of medical supplies.

It attempted to cover up doing so by "denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data," the analysis states.

The report also says China held off informing the World Health Organisation that the coronavirus "was a contagion" for much of January so it could order medical supplies from abroad — and that its imports of face masks and surgical gowns and gloves increased sharply.

Those conclusions are based on the 95 per cent probability that China's changes in imports and export behaviour were not within normal range, according to the report.

China informed the WHO of the outbreak on December 31. It contacted the US Centres for Disease Control on January 3 and publicly identified the pathogen as a novel coronavirus on January 8.

Chinese officials muffled doctors who warned about the virus early on and repeatedly downplayed the threat of the outbreak. However, many of the Chinese Government's missteps appear to have been due to bureaucratic hurdles, tight controls on information and officials hesitant to report bad news.

There is no public evidence to suggest it was an intentional plot to buy up the world's medical supplies.

In a tweet on Sunday, Mr Trump appeared to blame US intelligence officials for not making clearer sooner just how dangerous a potential coronavirus outbreak could be.




ABC News