Li-Meng Yan Claims China Seeks ‘Revenge’; Says Family Being Used to Lure Her Back Over Wuhan Lab Allegations

Chinese virologist Li-Meng Yan, who fled to the US after publicly claiming that Covid-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, says she now fears Beijing is using her family as bait to coerce her into returning to China. Yan alleges that the Chinese government aims to carry out what she calls the “perfect crime” by silencing her and erasing her claims about the virus.

Yan, who once worked at a leading laboratory at the University of Hong Kong alongside her husband Dr Ranawaka Perera, rose to global prominence in 2020 after asserting that Covid-19 was engineered and released deliberately. Her allegations created deep fractures within her family and drew significant backlash from China and the international scientific community.

According to reports from The New York Times and New York Post, Yan’s escape to the US was facilitated by conservative groups connected to former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who arranged her travel and introductions to political advisers in Washington.

Yan Claims Chinese Government Is Targeting Her Through Family

Yan says she has cut off all communication with her parents and husband since fleeing China. She alleges that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is exploiting her relatives to pressure her into returning.

“For over five years, the CCP has used my parents and Mahen (her husband) as tools to lure me back, attempting to erase the truth about the virus,” she said, according to the NYT.

Her husband, Ranawaka Perera, maintains that Yan was manipulated by online influencers who amplified her claims for political gain. One such figure, Wang Dinggang, is known for spreading misinformation about Beijing from the US.

Both Yan and Wang were later identified as victims in a US criminal case alleging Chinese security officials attempted to intimidate and harass dissidents abroad. The charges remain pending.

Husband Still Hopes for One Final Conversation

Perera, who relocated to the University of Pennsylvania in 2021, says he has spent years trying to track down Yan. He insists he is not seeking reconciliation—only confirmation that she is free and safe.

“I just want to talk to her directly and make sure she’s safe,” he told the NYT.
“If she doesn’t want to be with me, I can move on. But she is the person I love the most.”

Meanwhile, Yan continues to live in hiding in the United States, recently receiving an alert from Google warning her of a state-sponsored hacking attempt likely connected to China.

Her case remains one of the most high-profile examples of politically charged scientific whistleblowing—and the personal, emotional and geopolitical fallout that follows.