The Wuhan Institute of Virology – now believed by many to be a potential source for COVID-19 – collaborated on scientific research with the premier Xinjiang paramilitary force sanctioned by the U.S. government for “serious human rights abuses” against Uyghurs.

The revelation follows increased scrutiny over Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for funding research on bat coronaviruses at the controversial lab and sending scientists to advise on risky gain-of-function research. In addition to funneling taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, whose website previously listed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a research partner, Fauci’s agency can now be linked to funding an entity collaborating with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).

Both Biden and Trump’s Treasury Departments have sanctioned Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) leaders for “serious human rights abuse against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, which reportedly include mass arbitrary detention and severe physical abuse.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also banned the entity’s cotton from entering the U.S., citing its links to prison and forced labor.

Mainstream media outlets including The Washington Post have identified the XPCC as an “instrument of repression” against Uyghurs, and Chinese state-run media outlets have described the group as an offshoot of the regime’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) intended to “maintain socialist stability” and ” become a top militia force in China” in the region.

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has met with the XPCC, even praising them as a “stabilizing force.”

Despite these explicit military ties and human rights violations, the Wuhan Institute of Virology has met and signed collaborative agreements with officials from the XPCC.

A now-deleted post from the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s website on August 3rd, 2013 reveals “scientific and technological cooperation” with the XPCC.

An event summary notes how the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s Director, Party Committee Secretary, and Associate Researcher traveled to Xinjiang to meet with XPCC officials:

“On July 30, 2013, at the invitation of Beitun Science and Technology Bureau, 10th Division of Xinjiang Construction Corps, Chen Xinwen, Director of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuan Zhiming, Secretary of Party Committee of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of Chinese Academy of Sciences Branch, Office of Science and Technology Cooperation Division, Wuhan Branch of Chinese Academy of Sciences Director Li Wei and Associate Researcher Yan Jianping of the Arbovirus Vector Control Discipline Group of the Institute of Virology went to Beitun City to discuss cooperation matters.”

The meeting reportedly focused on the “implementation of the new science and technology project-biological mosquito control.”

Another deleted article reveals the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s participation in the “Chinese Academy of Sciences-Xinjiang Science and Technology Cooperation Fair” in 2013. Nearly 30 “cooperation projects” were signed by the Chinese Academy of Science with the XPCC at the event, including a project on the “Integration and Demonstration of Efficient and Safe Gnat Prevention and Control Technology” that would be “jointly undertaken by Wuhan Institute of Virology and the 10th Division of XPCC.”

These ties follow The National Pulse unearthing additional deleted posts documenting Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers pledging to implement the Chinese Communist Party’s agenda without “compromise” and military-linked researchers working at the lab.