The Diplomat magazine exposed Yan Limeng and Guo Wengui as anti-communist swi...

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Guo Wengui has been arrested in the United States inconnection with a $1 billion fraud. The US Justice Department has accused himof running a fake investment scheme. Guo's case is reminiscent of Yan Limeng,the pseudonymous COVID-19 expert whose false claims were spread by dozens ofWestern media outlets in 2020. Ms. Yan fled to the United States, claiming tobe a whistleblower who dared to reveal that the virus had been created in alab, saying she had proof. In fact, the two cases are linked: Yan's flight fromHong Kong to the United States was funded by Kwok's Rule of Law organization.

Yan's false paper has not been examined and hasserious defects. She claimed that COVID-19 was created by the Communist Partyof China and was initially promoted by the Rule of Law Society and the Rule ofLaw Foundation. Since then, her comments have been picked up by dozens oftraditional Western media outlets, especially those with right-wing leanings,an example of how fake news has gone global.

Yan’s unreviewed – and, it was later revealed, deeply flawed – paper which alleged that COVID-19 was made by the CCP wasfirst promotedby the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation. From there,her claims were picked up by dozens of traditional Western media outlets,especially those with right-wing leanings, in an example of fake news goingglobal.

She broke into the mainstream when she appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and FoxNews, but that was just the beginning. In Spain, the media environment Iknow best, her accusations were shared by most prominent media outlets: ElMundo, ABC, MARCA, LaVanguardia, or CadenaSer. Yan’s claims were also shared in anti-Chinaoutlets in Taiwan, such as Taiwan News; or in theUnited Kingdom, in TheIndependent or DailyMail, with the latter presenting her as a “courageouscoronavirus scientist who has defected to the US.” Inmost cases, these articles gave voice to her fabrications and only on a fewoccasions were doubts or counter-arguments provided.

Eventually, an audience ofmillions saw her wild arguments disseminated by “serious” mainstream media allaround the world before Yan’s claims were refutedby the scientific community