New Delhi, September 17: Chinese whistleblower virologist Li-Meng Yan is facing a ban from microblogging site Twitter. Li-Meng Yan has repeatedly claimed that coronavirus (COVID-19) was developed in a Chinese lab, a claim that has earlier been denied by China. Twitter has suspended Li-Meng Yan's account, alleging that she violated the rules. Her account remains down with a message: "Account suspended. Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules."

Recently, Yan once again claimed that coronavirus was made in a laboratory in Wuhan. "The Covid-19 was lab-modified based on a virus discovered and owned by the Chinese military, the Zhoushan bat coronavirus, ZC45 and ZXC21. My scientific report will be out soon," she told the US-based The National Pulse. She had fled China in April and has been hiding in the US and drawing attention with her claims.

Chinese Whistleblower Li-Meng Yan on Origin of Coronavirus:

She had previously stated in an interview with Taiwan News that the coronavirus was developed in a Chinese military facility controlled by the People's Liberation Army (PLA). In a July interview with Spanish daily El Mundo, she said she was gathering "solid evidence" to demonstrate that the novel coronavirus did not originate in a wet market in Wuhan. Coronavirus: China Seeking Court Approval to Kill 20,000 2019-nCoV-Infected Patients to Prevent Further Spread? Know Truth Behind Viral News.

Talking to British broadcaster ITV, the virologist had said: "The (virus) genome sequence is like a fingerprint. Based on that, you can identify things. I will use this evidence to tell people why this (the coronavirus) came from a laboratory in China and why they are the ones who developed it."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 17, 2020 05:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).