Chinese Spymaster's Rumored Defection Fueled by Government's Secrecy

(Photo : Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
HANGZHOU, ZHEJIANG - SEPTEMBER 25: A building sits in the distance from the national flag made up of 100,000 carnations at Wuling Square September 25, 2007 in Hangzhou, China. China is preparing for its 58th National Day celebration on October 1 while the 17th Communist Party Congress in mid-October could lead to personnel changes in the top echelons of power and will set China's political and economic course for the next five years.

Dong Jingwei, China's top counterintelligence official was rumored to have defected to the United States last February as many talks, the majority of which came from anticommunist and pro-Trump groups, suggest the agent brought evidence of the origin of the COVID-19 virus.

Despite widespread rumors about the coronavirus coming from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, there is no credible evidence to support the claims. Scientists believe that the virus transferred itself from an infected animal to a human being, most likely from a wet market in the Asian region, where people and various meat products frequently come in contact with each other.

No conclusive evidence has been offered yet on the origin of the COVID-19 virus, but the Chinese government's apparent secrecy of the topic continues to fuel speculation. The situation has since attracted the blame onto Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Chinese Intelligence Agent Defected?

The rumors about 57-year-old Dong, who was the second most powerful person in the Ministry of State Security, and his daughter, Dong Yang, started five months ago. The talks came from Hong Kong and appear to have disturbed Beijing's government. China's officially sanctioned media reported that Dong was seen at an MSS seminar on the mainland, within 24 hours of a June 17 story on the matter, The Daily Beast reported.

However, the report did not include information such as the location of the event or photographs or video recordings of Dong making his speech, fuelling rumors that it was a cover-up. Dr. Han Lianchao, a former Chinese foreign ministry official who defected after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, said the Chinese Communist Party would never admit an MSS personnel's defection.

The rumors claim Dong traveled from Hong Kong to the U.S. on February 10 with his daughter. Chinese pro-democracy activists living overseas said there was evidence that suggested the two fled Hong Kong with top-level intelligence regarding the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

While China continues to deny the agent's defection, the country's leader ordered the swearing an oath of top officials of the CCP's Central Committee ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the group, which is on July 1.

Appearing Again in China?

The Chinese government claimed Dong ordered other spies to hunt down anti-China forces, contrary to the defection rumors' claims. Amid the talks of the agent's defection, many members of the international community are working on identifying the exact origins of the COVID-19 virus, UPI reported.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization (WHO) said during this month's G7 summit that most of the studies regarding where the coronavirus started were inconclusive. He noted that nearly 3.75 million worldwide have died from the illness, who all deserve justice by having the source of the virus revealed to the world.

Amid the rumors and discussions about the COVID-19 virus theories coming from a laboratory in Wuhan, United States President Joe Biden ordered a close intelligence review of the coronavirus' origins last month, reported the Independent via Yahoo.