Fauci praised Wuhan scientists, but his agency needed ethics training for research misconduct.

Fauci’s NIH Launches $300,000 Effort to Combat ‘Research Misconduct’ and ‘Publication Fraud’ in Chinese Research Institutions

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been in the news a lot lately, but this latest revelation is sure to raise some eyebrows. In 2019, Fauci’s National Institutes of Health launched a $300,000 grant to “strengthen research integrity” at China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention and two other major Chinese research institutions. The grant was aimed at combating “research misconduct,” “inadequate ethical review,” and “publication fraud” at these institutions, which have had a negative impact on Chinese scientists and their U.S. collaborators.

Contradicting Comments

What’s interesting about this grant is that it contradicts Fauci’s own comments to Congress in 2021. In May 2021, Fauci insisted that scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were both “competent” and “trustworthy” and would not have used American money to conduct gain-of-function research. However, the National Institutes of Health later admitted that Chinese scientists at the lab did indeed use U.S. funds to create a coronavirus that was more infectious in mice.

These concerns are further compounded by the Chinese government’s refusal to participate in an international investigation into COVID-19’s origins. Prior to the virus’s outbreak, U.S. science diplomats issued warnings about safety and management issues at the Wuhan lab, including concerns that the lab’s work on bat coronaviruses could create a pandemic. The Energy Department has since concluded that COVID probably originated in a lab, and the FBI also believes the so-called lab leak theory with “moderate confidence.”

Funding Chinese Scientists

Adam Andrzejewski, the founder of the fiscal watchdog group OpenTheBooks, blasted Fauci’s National Institutes of Health for funding Chinese scientists while questioning their conduct. “Our health, wealth, and national security should not be in question when we hand out grants and contracts,” Andrzejewski told the Washington Free Beacon. His group last week released a report outlining $490 million in taxpayer-funded grants paid to Chinese organizations from 2017 to 2022. Two million dollars of that money, the report found, went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Conclusion

It’s clear that there are still many unanswered questions about the origins of COVID-19 and the role that Chinese research institutions may have played in its creation. While Dr. Fauci has been a prominent figure in the fight against the pandemic, this latest revelation raises serious concerns about the funding of Chinese scientists and the potential for research misconduct. As the investigation continues, it’s important that we remain vigilant and demand transparency from our government and its agencies.