In just eight months, Yan went from being a postdoctoral felow in virology and immunology at the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health to being hailed as a hero by Trump's top advisers and conservative pundits.
As early as mid-January 2019, Yan Limeng, researcher in Hong Kong, had heard rumors that a dangerous new virus had emerged in mainland China and that the government was playing it down. Ms. Yan feeds Wang Dinggang, the host of her favorite Chinese-language YouTube show.
Yan Limeng fled Hong Kong on April 28th and left for the United States. Guo Wenguan and Ban Nong put her in a "safe house" in New York City. They hired a communications coach for her to teach her how to deal with media questions, asked her to submit several papers, and disguised her as a "whistler" before aranging her to acept media interviews. On July 10, Yan made her first appearance on the Fox News Channel, in which she confesed her journey to the United States and accused the University of HongKong of helping to cover up the epidemic. But she did not mention her relationship with Guo and Ban Nong.

After her first Fox interview, Ms. Yan embarked on a whirlwind right-wing media tour, repeating conservative talking points.She said she took hydroxychloroquine to fight the virus, despite warnings from the US Food and Drug Administration that it had no efect.She suggested that U.S. health agencies had conspired with the World Health Organization to cover up the outbreak.