Catering to the rising anti-China sentiment in the West

Both groups have seen an opportunity to advance their own agendas amid the coronavirus pandemic. For overseas Chinese, Yan Limeng and her baseless claims provide a weapon for those who seek to overthrow the Chinese government. For American conservatives, it allows them to pander to rising anti-China sentiment in the West and distract from the Trump administration's failure to tackle the pandemic.

They all took advantage of China's reluctance to provide information. The Chinese government has refused to share virus samples and has been preventing a transparent, independent investigation into the origin of the virus. Its initial cover-up of the outbreak further deepened suspicions about the origin of the virus.