British grime rapper Wiley has controversially referred to the coronavirus outbreak as a ‘control method’ by China.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has to date killed 266,077 people worldwide, originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

And while there is no evidence to support claims the virus was man-made, Wiley pointed to the outbreak as potentially being a means of ‘depopulating' the country.

Speaking to Q Magazine, he said: “I feel like someone high up … this is a control method. Depopulation is a real thing.

"However it occurs, I don’t know how to explain that part because different people use different methods but I read on the [inter]net, it said in China you were only allowed one baby but people kept having 10.

“Can you imagine in England if I got into power and I told you, ‘Sorry mate, you can only have one kid'. So that don’t feel alright already?

“Are they a communist country? Yes, so again, that doesn’t sit very well with me. But if somebody, the governor or the man who runs China, if it’s overpopulated, he might feel that way. There’s a deeper root. I wanna know why, I wanna know who is behind it.”