CaliToday (08/12/2025): Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the globe, Dr. Li-Meng Yan, the polarizing Chinese virologist who became the face of the "lab-leak" theory, remains a ghost. Living at undisclosed locations across the United States, she claims she is being actively hunted by agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for blowing the whistle on what she insists was a state-sponsored biological attack.
According to a new investigative report, Yan believes that Beijing is now deploying psychological warfare using her own family in China as bait to lure her into a trap where she can be "disappeared" and silenced forever.
The Accusation: A Whistleblower or a Pawn?
Yan’s journey began in the prestigious laboratories of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), where she worked alongside her husband, Sri Lankan virologist Ranawaka Perera. She claims that early in the outbreak, she uncovered evidence that the virus was not natural, but engineered—a claim that contradicted the official narrative of a wet-market spillover.
"I knew that if I spoke out, I would be disappeared," Yan has stated in previous interviews.
In April 2020, she made a break for freedom. Leaving behind her career and her husband, she fled to the United States. Her escape was orchestrated with the help of high-profile conservative figures, including former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and the exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui (who has since faced his own legal battles in the US).
Yan became a fixture on conservative media circuits, telling Tucker Carlson Tonight and other outlets that the Chinese government intentionally released the virus to cause mass death—a theory that gained millions of views but alienated the mainstream scientific community.
The Scientific Backlash
While Yan’s story is a thriller-like tale of espionage, her scientific claims have faced withering scrutiny.
Lack of Peer Review: The research papers she released were not peer-reviewed but were published on open-access repositories.
Scientific Consensus: Virologists from major Western institutions have dismissed her assertions that the virus's genetic code shows signs of manual manipulation, categorizing her work as "deeply flawed" and lacking empirical evidence.
Allegations of Manipulation: Critics, including her former colleagues, argue that Yan—a post-doctoral researcher with limited experience—was manipulated by political actors like blogger Wang Dinggang to push an anti-CCP agenda during the height of US-China tensions.
A Broken Marriage and the "Honey Trap"
The most tragic casualty of Yan’s crusade appears to be her personal life. Her husband, Dr. Perera, remains skeptical of her handlers, not her safety.
In a heartbreaking twist, Perera recently flew to the United States in a desperate attempt to see her one last time. He was unable to make contact.
"I just want to know she is safe and that she is making these decisions of her own free will," Perera told reporters. "No matter what has happened, she is still the person I love most."
Yan, however, views these overtures as a threat. She has severed all contact with her family, fearing that Beijing has coerced them into acting as emotional leverage to draw her out of hiding.
The Threat is Real: Transnational Repression
While Yan’s scientific theories are disputed, her fear of the Chinese state is grounded in documented reality.
Cyber Attacks: Recent security audits revealed that state-sponsored hackers have repeatedly attempted to breach her accounts, with Google issuing specific warnings to her regarding government-backed phishing attempts.
Operation Fox Hunt: In 2023, Yan was named in a lawsuit targeting China's "Operation Fox Hunt," a global repatriation campaign where Chinese agents allegedly harass dissidents abroad to force their return.
The Unresolved Mystery
Dr. Yan’s case embodies the chaotic intersection of science, geopolitics, and propaganda. While the US intelligence community remains divided—with the FBI and Department of Energy leaning toward a lab leak (albeit accidental) and other agencies favoring natural transmission—Yan’s extreme "bioweapon" narrative remains an outlier.
Yet, for Dr. Li-Meng Yan, the debate is not academic; it is a matter of life and death. "They want to destroy my reputation and then destroy me physically," she warned. "But I will not return."