The Defense Department doesn’t know how much money it sent directly or indirectly to Chinese entities to conduct research on viruses with potential to create a pandemic, according to a new report by the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General.
The inspector general’s report found that the Pentagon has supplied Chinese entities—either directly or, via subgrants, indirectly—with taxpayer cash to research pathogens and their enhancement, but the exact figure is unknown because of “limitations” in an internal tracking system.
Government funding for such research in China has come under scrutiny since the COVID-19 pandemic, which multiple government entities believe started when an engineered coronavirus leaked from a Chinese laboratory that was hosting U.S. government-backed gain-of-function research.
“Incompetence, absurdity, insanity; it’s…
