Overview
- Yan told The New York Times she believes Chinese authorities are using her parents and husband to coax her return, calling it a bid to commit a “perfect crime.”
- Her husband, virologist Ranawaka Perera, says he has tried to find her in the United States and wants only to confirm she is safe, while she remains estranged from him and her parents.
- Yan fled in 2020 with help linked to a foundation tied to Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui and later became a frequent guest on conservative media promoting a lab-origin claim.
- Scientists widely criticized her non–peer-reviewed paper, and the University of Hong Kong described her as a junior researcher with limited experience.
- In 2023, a New York criminal complaint named her as a victim of an alleged Chinese transnational repression scheme, and earlier this year Google warned her of a likely state-sponsored hacking attempt.