Is China Running Bioweapons Labs in the US?

Questions keep surfacing after reports of China-linked labs discovered in U.S. cities and growing concern over Beijing’s strategic ambitions.

The exterior of a biolab, in Reedley, Calif., on July 31, 2023.

Is the Chinese regime operating state-run biological weapons laboratories inside the United States?

At the time of this writing, the answer is, “we don’t know.”

But that doesn’t mean suspicions are appearing out of thin air. When you step back and look at capability, legal authority, past behavior, and a few troubling cases here at home, you can understand why some officials remain wary.

China’s Undeniable Biological Capabilities

China is a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention, which prohibits the development and stockpiling of biological weapons. On paper, that places Beijing alongside most of the international community in rejecting such weapons.

At the same time, U.S. State Department compliance reports have occasionally raised concerns about transparency in China’s biological research programs. Dual-use programs are common and are not an exception in China’s industrial and scientific policies.

That’s not proof of an active weapons program. However, it does establish an important point: China has sophisticated biotechnology capabilities, and U.S. officials have flagged opacity in certain areas.

Chinese Biotech Companies in America

Chinese biotech companies have operated in the United States for decades, particularly in genetic sequencing and diagnostics. One of the most discussed examples is BGI Group, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute. BGI has provided genetic sequencing services globally, including in the United States. For years, there have been concerns about China’s integration of genomic data and potential military applications.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce was compelled to add certain BGI subsidiaries to its Entity List over national security concerns. Those actions were driven by worries about data security and possible links to China’s military establishment. But there has been no public evidence showing that BGI or similar companies were running biological weapons labs in the United States.

This distinction, though perhaps minimal in appearance, matters. Dual-use biotechnology research that can serve both civilian and military purposes undoubtedly creates gray areas, but gray areas are not proof of covert weapons operations.

The Reedley, California Lab Incident

In 2023, authorities in Reedley, California, discovered an unlicensed laboratory containing pathogens and lab animals. That story understandably grabbed headlines. The operators were not only charged with regulatory and fraud violations related to the presence of biological materials, but also had ties to Chinese nationals.

That combination is enough to make anyone uneasy and raise eyebrows. Nonetheless, federal authorities did not conclude it was a CCP-directed biological weapons facility. No official U.S. government statement linked it to a Chinese military program.

What it did reveal, however, were regulatory gaps and biosecurity weaknesses, and how easily oversight can fail. When foreign ties are involved, suspicions naturally rise, even if evidence of state direction is absent.

Beijing’s Legal Leverage

In 2017, China enacted its National Intelligence Law, which requires Chinese organizations and citizens to support and cooperate with state intelligence work. In other words, every Chinese company and individual at home or abroad could be legally responsible to act as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

This is where strategic concerns become sharper. If a Chinese biotech company operates abroad, could it be compelled to share data with Beijing? Could sensitive research be leveraged? Could a seemingly civilian entity be pressured into assisting intelligence objectives?

Yes, it could.

From a will–capability–intent perspective, the Chinese regime clearly possesses advanced biotech capability and has often demonstrated a willingness to engage in industrial espionage in other sectors. What’s more, the CCP’s official doctrine both proscribes and embraces long-term strategic competition with the United States.

These facts don’t automatically translate into hidden bioweapons labs in American cities. But they do explain why some policymakers view Chinese biotech operations through a national security lens.

Biological Smuggling Cases

And they’re right to do so, as there have been multiple Justice Department cases involving improper importation of biological materials into the United States. These cases typically involve regulatory violations, visa fraud, or improper transfer of research samples. They are serious offenses, but they have not established a coordinated CCP biological weapons program inside the United States.

Biological hazards were found at an illegal biolab in Reedley, Calif., in December 2022. The U.S. Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party

Similarly, while there has been reporting on Chinese-linked money laundering networks tied to fentanyl trafficking, there is no verified public evidence connecting cartel activity to biological weapons labs operating in the United States.

What Would Proof Look Like?

If China were operating state-directed biological weapons labs inside the United States, we would likely see federal espionage indictments, weapons proliferation charges, sanctions, or formal intelligence assessments confirming such activity.

None of that currently exists in the public record. The absence of proof doesn’t prove impossibility or even mean it’s not happening. But it does matter.

Serious allegations require serious evidence. Are the suspicions groundless?

Not entirely.

China has undeniable advanced biotech capabilities, the legal mechanisms to compel corporate cooperation, and is engaged in a strategic rivalry with the United States. Furthermore, there have been documented cases of regulatory violations and opaque laboratory activities.

Those facts create conditions in which suspicion is not unreasonable, even if there is no “smoking lab,” so to speak. But as of now, there’s no verified public evidence that the CCP is operating bioweapons labs inside the United States.

But strategic vigilance is certainly reasonable, and preparing for that possibility is a smart policy. In national security analysis, credibility depends on holding both thoughts at once: staying alert to real risks while insisting on evidence before drawing conclusions.

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