Who says you have to use a genetically modified virus to wage biological warfare? And who says that this wasn’t the intent, to use this strain and then modify it, but it was mishandled? It could be it came from eating exotic food like bat stew. This the danger of eating bush meat or exotic game. My guess is that we’ll never know exactly how this virus originated. What we do know, is that the Chinese authorities can’t be trusted.
If you want the virus to seek a population with via a distinct gene.. yep you do. Easy way to target individuals in a particular region, ethnicity.. The deaths of Asians vs non Asians define this virus. It could develop in the wild, but i think its a periodic cleansing of the aging Chinese.
Think of the origins of bird flu, swine flu, sars....
Trust this scientist.. unless he was the one stating the hymalayas would melt by 2020. The others would never lie for profit.