Did Japanese Noble Prize Winner, Tasuku Honjo, say that COVID-19 is man-made? Here's the truth

Posts have been circulating on social media claiming that Japanese Scientist and Noble Prize Winner Tasuku Honjo has announced that the noble Coronavirus is not natural but man-made.
The post also claims that Honjo worked in Wuhan, China for four years and that the virus was created in China.

जापान के नोबल पुरस्कार जीतने वाले ओर 4 साल तक चीन में काम करने वाले प्रोफेसर #टासुकू_होंजो का दावा, कोरोना प्राकृतिक नही कृत्रिम वायरस है जो चीन ने बनाया है। pic.twitter.com/ukrx2gH6Tw

— MANOJ KUMAR MEENA (@MANOJMEENARAJ) April 24, 2020

जापान के नोबेल पुरस्कार विजेता प्रोफेसर डॉ टासुकू होंजो ने कहा कोरोना वायरस चीन द्वारा बनाया गया वायरस है यह किसी भी जानवर से नहीं पहला है अगर यह बात झूठी हो तो मेरा नोबेल पुरस्कार वापस ले सकते हो चीन की बहू लेबोरेटरी में मैंने 4 साल काम किया उसके सभी स्टाफ मेरी जानकार है 1/2 pic.twitter.com/7Q4ffuyJMx

— एस के डोबवाल 💯 (@SKMEENA777) April 24, 2020

English

വസ്തുതാ പരിശോധന: പ്രായമായൊരു മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ വൈകാരിക ചിത്രം റഷ്യന്‍-ഉക്രൈന്‍ യുദ്ധവുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ടതല്ല

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चीन षडयंत्र का खुलासा करते हुए नोबेल पुरस्कार विजेता टासुकू होन्जो ने दावा किया है कि “चीनी वायरस अप्राकृतिक तथा मानव निर्मित वायरस है।” यदि ऐसा नहीं होता है तो मैं अपना नोबेल पुरस्कार लौटने को तैयार हूँ। लेकिन दोगले @WHO को समझ नही आ रही है।#chinaVirusMadeInChina #BoycottChina pic.twitter.com/FTPLFAlWAK

— Dr. Yuvraj Kumar (@Yuvrajkk82) April 24, 2020

FACT CHECK

We fact-checked the above claims and found them to be false.
When we looked for Honjo’s name on the web, we came across the most recent article by Taiwan News published on April 14, wherein Honjo has mentioned that Japan should follow Taiwan, China for preventive strategies against the coronavirus battle.

It states: Honjo stressed that Taiwan would serve as a great model for Japan to follow. He praised Taiwan’s mask rationing system as well as virtual learning platforms and said both could effectively prevent the worsening of Japan’s pandemic.
We then searched by the keywords and found that a claim about Coronavirus being created in a lab was actually made by Nobel laureate and French scientist Luc Montagnier.

Furthermore, we also checked the truth behind Covid-19 being created in a lab. A study in the journal Nature.com, published by multiple science magazines clearly states that the virus was not created in a lab.

Hence, it is clear that Japanese scientist and Nobel Prize winner Tasuku Honjo did not claim that Coronavirus was made in China.