Social media users in China are obsessing over a conspiracy theory that claims COVID-19 was produced by US-linked laboratories in Ukraine

Social media users in China are obsessed with a conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 coronaviruses was produced by US-linked laboratories in Ukraine.

The Global Times published an article titled "Research proves that COVID was manufactured by an American company" on Wednesday.

The thread about the article went viral early Wednesday. As of press time, it had been viewed 1.67 billion times.

The article, which was re- published by 45 other Chinese outlets, claimed that Global Times had come one step closer to the truth about the origins of the coronaviruses. It was claimed that the Russian army found evidence of US-linked laboratories producing biological weapons.

The United States is using bats to study coronaviruses and has produced components for biological weapons, according to the Global Times.

The article claimed that Russia had found documents with the signatures of US government officials and the seals of relevant US government departments.

America will fall when the truth is revealed. The article said to wait and see when the truth is completely revealed.

The Global Times didn't provide evidence to back up its claims.

Many Weibo users expressed their outrage over the article, with some calling for the US to be investigated and others suggesting that US officials should be executed as war criminals.

It is not clear where and when this new theory about COVID-19 was started.

It is thought to have its beginnings in a wild proposition that was spread by Russian and Chinese news outlets that the US is operating biological weapons laboratories in Ukrainian cities that have come under attack from Russia. The media and social media commenters seized upon the topic of the rumors about the US bio-weapons labs.

There are baseless conspiracy theories that the Pfizer vaccine is killing older people and that the COVID-19 virus was created in Fort Detrick, a US Army base.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have called for investigations into whether the coronaviruses was leaked from a laboratory in China.