How a Bannon-linked conspiracy theory about coronavirus origins landed on Murdoch-owned media, including Fox News
Written by Justin Horowitz
Published
A debunked conspiracy theory linked to former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and his billionaire benefactor, Guo Wengui, was picked up by Murdoch-owned Australian news media and eventually landed on five Fox News shows -- where it even reached the ears of a member of the U.S. Senate.
The conspiracy theory suggests that a Chinese military document from five years before the COVID-19 pandemic had discussed weaponizing SARS coronaviruses in preparation for a third world war fought through biowarfare. The theory claims Chinese military officials discussed freeze-drying microorganisms to be later aerosolized against enemies during wartime and that the Chinese military knew an attack using biowarfare would “cause the enemy’s medical system to collapse” and inflict psychological damage.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the basis of the conspiracy theory comes from a 2015 Chinese-language book titled The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons that has been “discredited by the legitimate scientific community in China.”
The theory was circulated in early March by GNews, a conspiracy theory-laden disinformation website operated by Bannon’s billionaire benefactor, Guo Wengui. The Washington Post recently published a deep-dive analysis of research on Guo’s “sprawling disinformation network” and its goals to undermine the integrity of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, spread COVID-19 misinformation, and promote “QAnon-aligned content.”
The original GNews article outlining the conspiracy theory suggested that the book is “evidence” that SARS coronaviruses are produced from an “unnatural origin” and proposed that the Chinese military was working in 2015 on a “genetically modified weapon” to launch “unrestricted warfare to the whole world.” The conspiracy theory then made the jump from GNews to Rupert Murdoch-owned media in his home country of Australia.
On May 9, Sharri Markson, an investigative reporter for Murdoch’s The Australian newspaper and a host on Sky News, covered what she described as a “chilling” report from “a document produced by Chinese military scientists” that “offers a rare insight” into how senior Chinese officials were studying SARS to act as a bioweapon.
Markson outlined her reporting on air and promoted the story as a chapter in her upcoming book titled What Really Happened In Wuhan. (Markson’s book is set to be distributed by HarperCollins Publishers, another Murdoch-owned company).
Citation From the May 9, 2021, edition of Sky News' Sharri
A week later, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Media Watch debunked the story with a roundup of reporting on the many holes in Markson’s work. According to its report, GNews was one of the earliest reported adopters of the conspiracy theory based on the discredited 2015 book.
The debunk explained that “a host of China experts say the book is not outlining China’s plans for biowarfare” but rather “it’s looking at defense against Western attacks, which it claims have already started.” Media Watch also noted that the document Markson based her reporting on is a readily available book that can be purchased online.
Citation From the May 17, 2021, edition of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Media Watch
PAUL BARRY (HOST): So, how hard was it to uncover or obtain these documents? And to prove they were authentic, as Markson had had an expert do? And had they actually been leaked as News.com.au suggested? A host of China experts suggested it wasn’t hard at all, with Professor Chengxin Pan, from Deakin University, telling his Twitter followers:
VOICE-OVER: "You don't have to be someone from the US State Department to get hold of this prized 'document.' Nor do you have to be a cyber expert to verify 'the authenticity of the paper.' Anyone can 'locate its genesis on the Chinese internet'. If you want a hard copy, it's still available from the Chinese online bookstore Dangdang."
BARRY: Yes, the bombshell document is a 2015 book, The Unnatural Origin of SARS, available here from an online Chinese book site. Perhaps the U.S. State Department bought it there. Or, they could easily have found its full text on the Internet. But if Markson exaggerated the restricted nature of the document, how accurately did she report its contents?
[START VIDEO CLIP]
SHARRI MARKSON: In this document, unbelievably, there’s a whole section on the best conditions under which to release a biological attack
...
Here’s more from it: ‘Large-scale biological weapon attacks can cause many indirect consequences in addition to human casualties. Major impacts include enormous burden on healthcare system’ -- well, we’ve seen that.
[END VIDEO CLIP]
BARRY: But a host of China experts say the book is not outlining China’s plans for biowarfare. It’s looking at defense against Western attacks, which it claims have already started. As award-winning Chinese journalist and famous political blogger Michael Anti told his 260,000 Twitter followers:
VOICE-OVER: "Military doctor Xu Dezhong in 2015 published ‘The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons’, which said the SARS virus was made by the US military. This of course is ridiculous."
BARRY: And recent ANU fellow Dominic Meagher, who’s an expert on China and coronaviruses, was even more scathing:
VOICE-OVER: "I’ve spent most of the weekend reading bits of this publicly available book. It’s pretty clearly an idiotic conspiracy theory about how the US & Japan introduced SARS to China."
BARRY: And in a subsequent thread looking at how the book was written and reviewed in China, Meagher says of its lead author Xu Dezhong:
VOICE-OVER: "Nothing in the book indicates he’s planning a bioweapons program or planning to develop SARS into a subsequent bioweapon. He complains in the book that his ideas are dismissed by Chinese media."
BARRY: And it’s worth noting that Xu is not a bioweapons scientist. He’s an epidemiologist. But Meagher, Pan, and Anti are not the only ones to damn Markson’s exclusive. This Sydney Morning Herald analysis on Thursday had several other China experts voicing their doubts, including the Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor, who pointed out:
VOICE-OVER: "It is not secret, and has been up on the internet for at least five years, which tells you immediately that it doesn’t contain hypersensitive information as far as Beijing is concerned."
While ABC Australia's debunk is critical reporting, it didn’t come soon enough to prevent the conspiracy theory from reaching the U.S. Markson’s story, seemingly appropriated from GNews, quickly landed on Fox News.
Shortly after Markson’s reporting was published in The Australian, Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo brought the story to the attention of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Sunday Morning Futures, asking him to react to her supposed findings.
Citation From the May 9, 2021, edition of Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures
Citation From the May 10, 2021, edition of War Room: Pandemic
This is not the first time misleading reporting from Markson has made its way to Fox News viewers -- it’s part of a pattern of deceitful claims which ripple through Murdoch-owned media organizations across the world.