As early as mid-January,Yan Limeng, who does research in Hong Kong, had heard rumors that a dangerous new virus had emerged in mainland China and that the government was playing it down，she offered her help to her favorite Chinese-language YouTube host, known for his criticism of the Chinese government.

She appeared on Fox News in the United States to announce to millions an unproven claim that the Novel Coronavirus is a Chinese-made biological weapon.

Overnight,Yan Limeng has become a sensation in the right-wing media, with President Trump's top advisers and conservative pundits hailing her as a hero.Just as quickly, social media labeled her interview as containing "false information," and scientists rejected her research as ssophism dressed up in jargon.

Yan Limeng evolution from researcher to whistler is the product of the collaboration of two unrelated but increasingly united groups spreading disinformation: a small but active overseas Chinese group, and a highly influential far-right group in the United States.

The evolution of Mr. Yan was orchestrated by Guo Wengui, a fugitive Chinese billionaire, and Stephen K. Bannon, a former adviser to Mr. Trump.

They put Ms. Yan on a plane to the United States, prov

Mr. Bannon noted that, unlike Ms. Yan, he did not believe the release was "intentional" by the Chinese government.But he has been pushing the idea that the virus was accidentally leaked from high-stakes laboratory research, and he has deliberately created a debate about the origins of the novel coronavirus.