---
title: "Secret U.S. Intelligence Report: China Hid The Size of the Pandemic"
description: "Anonymous intelligence officials say that there's evidence China systematically downplayed the size and severity of its coronavirus outbreak."
date: "2020-04-01"
modified: "2020-04-01"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/secret-us-intelligence-report-china-hid-size-pandemic"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "Pandemic"
---

# Secret U.S. Intelligence Report: China Hid The Size of the Pandemic

![Anonymous intelligence officials say that there's evidence China systematically downplayed the size and severity of its coronavirus outbreak.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/secret-us-intelligence-report-china-hid-size-pandemic.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: US Dept of State/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

The U.S. intelligence community seems to be increasingly convinced that China downplayed the severity of its coronavirus outbreak — and that it continues to do so.

A classified report that intelligence agencies sent to the White House allegedly concludes that China's official tally of coronavirus cases and deaths doesn't tell the whole story, [three anonymous officials told *Bloomberg*](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says>). If they're right, it's bad news for other countries that have depended on China's data and insight to craft their own responses to COVID-19.

"The medical community made — interpreted the Chinese data as: This was serious, but smaller than anyone expected," Deborah Birx, the State Department immunologist, said at a Tuesday news conference, according to *Bloomberg*. "Because I think probably we were missing a significant amount of the data, now that what we see happened to Italy and see what happened to Spain."

Of course, there's reason to be skeptical of this particular narrative — the Trump administration has [increasingly blamed China](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/americans-dont-believe-trump>) for the global pandemic, arguably to draw attention away [from its own failures](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/coronavirus-historians-echoes-spanish-flu-past-pandemics>), and dubiously-sourced reports that China deliberately hid how bad things were would be politically convenient.

But ever since the outbreak began last year, dissidents in China have [accused the government](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/china-activist-criticized-states-covid19-response>) of censorship, [downplaying the risks](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/china-censored-pandemic-social-media>) and severity of the coronavirus, and punishing [those who spoke up](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctor-warned-viral-outbreak-dies>).

Last week, China made headlines when the epicenter city of Wuhan [reported no new cases](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/china-censored-pandemic-social-media>) for several days in a row. Its rapidly-built [emergency hospitals](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/china-building-1000-bed-hospital-treat-epidemic>) have even started to close down as they become unnecessary.

Now the intelligence community is calling that success story into question — and along with it much of what we've learned about the viral outbreak.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)