As President Donald Trump and his coronavirus task force are working to mitigate the spread of the deadly disease, media members are actively pushing Chinese propaganda. NBC has become the worst offender.
The coronavirus started in Wuhan, China. The communist regime initially <a href="https://www.axios.com/timeline-the-early-days-of-chinas-coronavirus-outbreak-and-cover-up-ee65211a-afb6-4641-97b8-353718a5faab.html">covered-up</a> the public health crisis, pretending it didn’t exist and doing little to contain it at a time when Chinese Americans and tourists were visiting the country for the Chinese New Year.
China is directly responsible for the spread of this deadly disease.
Now, China is pretending they’re the heroes in this fight. First, they <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/chinese-state-media-falsely-claim-u-s-army-athlete-brought-coronavirus-to-china/">blamed</a> the US military for manufacturing COVID-19 in a lab, then disseminating it in Wuhan. Then, China kicked American journalists out of the country so they could more-easily doctor coronavirus numbers. Now, they’re delivering medical equipment to countries that need them in their fight against the virus for PR effect.
NBC is happy to help China’s propaganda effort as a means to hurt Trump.
After the propaganda campaign began, President Trump smartly called it the “Chinese virus” so that the world would remember China was responsible at a time when the media was working overdrive to blame the president for the spread here. Woke NBC analysts jumped to condemn, foolishly calling this bigoted.
Richard Engel on MSNBC laughably called it a “bat virus” to defend China from taking any blame.
&#8220;This is a virus that came from the territory of China but came from bats,” Engel claimed. “This is a bat virus, not a China virus. It doesn&#8217;t speak Chinese. It doesn&#8217;t target Chinese people. It targets human beings who happen to touch their eyes, nose or mouth.&#8221;
But they wouldn&#8217;t just insufferably word-police. They would boost China as a world leader and even victim.
Keir Simmons, on the Today Show, <a href="https://news.grabien.com/story-nbcs-simmons-china-helped-world-delaying-coronavirus-now-wor">credited</a> China for “delaying the arrival of the coronavirus” before noting “they are worrying that they may get re-infected by the coronavirus from the rest of the world.&#8221; In other words, China is the hero and it’s the foreigners bringing infections there?
As China <a href="https://twitter.com/JerylBier/status/1243530205832118273">dubiously claims</a> they had only one positive COVID-19 in their country of 1.3 billion people in the last several days, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes gleefully noted on <a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1243673639096123394">Twitter</a>: “We are quite literally doing a worse job of containing the virus than any other country on earth.”
And yes, it is <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1244279416819273729">delivered with glee</a> when you spend the last three years of your career proudly trying to damage the presidency.
Over the weekend, &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; host Chuck Todd wondered if President Trump has blood on his hands, asking former Vice President Joe Biden: &#8220;Do you think there&#8217;s already–do you think there is blood on the president&#8217;s hands considering the slow response?&#8221; Todd asked. &#8220;Or is that too harsh of a criticism?&#8221; Even Biden thought that was too dramatic and unfair.
On their web property, NBC won’t relent either.
Covering a House resolution to condemn China for their role in the cover-up and spread of coronavirus, NBC’s Kimmy Yam published a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/house-members-introduce-resolution-pin-coronavirus-blame-china-n1169051?fbclid=IwAR179IcF6B2jkG2umWtD3P8_3-D_3EEhg_RZbdQpTJbaJltKx_bKyeMFHdA">piece</a> titled “House members introduce resolution to pin coronavirus blame on China.” Pin it on them? The title makes it seem like China is the victim of a smear campaign. The country is being rightly labeled responsible because… they’re responsible.
Then you have NBC reporter Ken Dilanian. He propped up China as a global leader in an article titled &#8220;As U.S. struggles to stem coronavirus, China asserts itself as global leader.” Wow. In a <a href="https://twitter.com/KenDilanianNBC/status/1243243758914863104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fmedia%2Fnbc-ken-dilanian-china-superpower-criticism-coronavirus">tweet</a>, he wrote “With Italy in dire need of medical equipment, an economic superpower stepped in to help. No, not the United States. It was China.”
This is all literal Chinese propaganda. So why is NBC so complicit?
I’d argue they don’t care if they have to use Chinese propaganda that hurts this country because their main goal is to hurt President Trump. Like many in the media, NBC anchors and analysts don’t hide their disdain for the president. And they’re not above using a public health crisis to continue their transparent attacks.
Jason Rantz is a Seattle-based talk show host heard weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m.on KTTH 770 AM (subscribe to the podcast <a href="https://mynorthwest.com/category/podcasts/#AM770KTTH">here</a>). He’s a frequent guest on FOX News and occasional fill-in host for the Ben Shapiro Show. Follow Jason on Twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jasonrantz">@JasonRantz</a>.
&nbsp;

NBC News

RANTZ: NBC News Is Actively Promoting Chinese Propaganda

China

Coronavirus

On Monday, Missouri GOP senator Josh Hawley issued an <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/sen-josh-hawley-investigate-chinas-coronavirus-actions-make-beijing-pay-for-lives-and-billions-lost">op-ed on Fox News</a> in which he called for an international investigation into the Communist Chinses government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, adding, “It is time for Beijing to pay for the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/italy-death-toll-passes-10000">tens of thousands of lives</a> stolen and billions of dollars lost as a result of its lies.”
Hawley starts by stating that the Chinese Communist Party is aware that it bears responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic. He continues, “That’s why Beijing has gone on a propaganda offensive to try to deflect blame anywhere it can, including right here at the United States.”
Hawley states bluntly:
<blockquote>It is time for an international investigation into Beijing’s disastrous handling of the coronavirus. And it is time for Beijing to pay for the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/italy-death-toll-passes-10000">tens of thousands of lives</a> stolen and billions of dollars lost as a result of its lies. The Chinese Communist Party has done everything it can to hide the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Party officials interrogated and punished Chinese doctors who tried to warn others as the virus began to spread. They ordered laboratories to stop testing for the virus and destroy their samples when it became clear that an outbreak was underway. They even sat on evidence showing the virus could be transmitted between humans. By the time they shared that information, the virus had already spread to other nations.</blockquote>
Hawley notes that the Chinese Communist Party denied Ameican experts access to China in January, and “stole precious weeks from the United States and others who could have used that time to ready our national defenses.” He pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party protests that it handled the coronavirus outbreak transparently and did it well, but in reality, the opposite is true. He iterated, “Beijing wants the world to trust it and grow dependent on it, so that it can control us. But the world won’t easily do that if it knows that Beijing is responsible for this pandemic.”
Noting the claims from Chinese officials that the virus did not originate in Wuhan but instead that it came from the United States or Italy, that China “bought time” for the world to prepare for coronavirus, and that others wasted time, Hawley blasts, “These are outrageous lies. It is time to hold Beijing accountable for the suffering it has caused.
Hawley writes:
<blockquote>The first step to holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable is an international investigation. That is why I have introduced a Senate resolution calling on the United States and other nations to investigate how Beijing’s mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak contributed to this pandemic. We need to know exactly what the Party knew, when it knew it, and how the Party’s decisions to try and hide the virus allowed it to spread and kept the United States and other nations from protecting ourselves sooner.
… The next step to holding Beijing accountable is to force it to pay for the lives and livelihoods that it has destroyed. My resolution calls on the international community to seek justice together by quantifying the harm caused by the Party’s mishandling of this disease and designing a way to secure payment from Beijing to compensate for that harm.</blockquote>
Last week, James Kraska, the chair and Charles H. Stockton professor of international maritime law in the Stockton Center for International Law at the U.S. Naval War College, <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2020/03/china-is-legally-responsible-for-covid-19-damage-and-claims-could-be-in-the-trillions/">argued</a> that China should make recompense for the damage wrought by the coronavirus, writing:
<blockquote>As one of the 194 states party to the legally binding 2005 <a href="https://www.who.int/ihr/publications/9789241596664/en/">International Health Regulations</a>, China has a duty to rapidly gather information about and contribute to a common understanding of what may constitute a public health emergency with potential international implications … Article 6 of the International Health Regulations requires states to provide expedited, timely, accurate, and sufficiently detailed information to WHO about the potential public health emergencies identified in the second annex in order to galvanize efforts to prevent pandemics &#8230;
Under Article 31 of the <a href="https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/international-law-commission-articles-state-responsibility">Articles of State Responsibility</a>, states are required to make full reparations for the injury caused by their internationally wrongful acts. Injuries include damages, whether material or moral. Injured states are entitled to full reparation “in the form of restitution in kind, compensation, satisfaction and assurances and guarantees of non-repetition” (Article 34). Restitution in kind means that the injured state is entitled to be placed in the same position as existed before the wrongful acts were committed (Article 35).
&nbsp;</blockquote>

Senate Committee On Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs Hears Testimony From Michael Horowitz

Senator Josh Hawley: Investigate China. They Must Pay.

Josh Hawley

The United Kingdom&#8217;s government, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is reportedly &#8220;furious&#8221; with China, and has pledged a &#8220;reckoning&#8221; for the country&#8217;s &#8220;disinformation campaign,&#8221; which U.K. officials believe downplayed the number of Chinese coronavirus cases by &#8220;15 to 40&#8221; times.
<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-boris-johnsons-government-reportedly-furious-with-china-2020-3">Business Insider reports</a> that Johnson&#8217;s government is the first to suggest that China could face economic consequences for the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
&#8220;UK government officials are accusing China of spreading disinformation about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in its borders,&#8221; the outlet says, adding that officials believe China&#8217;s reported number of coronavirus cases &#8212; just over 81,000 &#8212; is far too low, and that the real number of cases could be &#8220;15 to 40 times&#8221; official Chinese reports.
In the United States, a battle has raged in &#8220;woker&#8221; circles over whether it is appropriate to refer to the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, as a &#8220;Chinese&#8221; virus, a &#8220;Wuhan&#8221; virus, or the &#8220;Chinese coronavirus.&#8221; But certain officials in the United Kingom say China&#8217;s involvement in the global pandemic should be front and center, especially as the world deals with an incredible economic fallout from lockdowns and other measures designed to curb the spread of the disease.
&#8220;It was the case … [that] the first case of coronavirus in China was established in December of last year, but it was also the case that some of the reporting from China was not clear about the scale, the nature, the infectiousness of this,&#8221; the U.K.&#8217;s Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove told the BBC late last week.
&#8220;It is going to be back to the diplomatic drawing board after this,&#8221; a Johnson administration official, who declined to give a name, <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/wuhan-deaths-03272020182846.html">told Radio Free Asia</a>. &#8220;Rethink is an understatement.&#8221;
&#8220;There has to be a reckoning when this is over,&#8221; another said. A third added, &#8220;the anger goes right to the top,&#8221; suggesting that Johnson himself is making plans to alter official policy towards China in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, the U.K. announced that Chinese telecommunications company Huawei would be given a role in developing the nation&#8217;s 5G mobile phone network &#8212; an agreement that shocked the world, given China&#8217;s penchant for widespread espionage and its lack of concern for privacy. That agreement, though, could be first on the chopping block after the coronavirus smoke clears, per BI.
&#8220;We&#8217;re allowing companies like Huawei not just into our economy, but to be a crucial part of our infrastructure. This needs to be reviewed urgently, as does any strategically important infrastructure that relies on Chinese supply chains,&#8221; a British cabinet minister reportedly told the British weekly, Mail on Sunday.
China has tried to ingratiate itself to a suffering Europe by offering Chinese-made medical supplies, including masks, personal protective equipment, and even coronavirus tests to struggling countries like Italy, France, and Spain. But, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52092395">the BBC reports</a>, thousands of Chinese-made tests have proven unreliable, and hundreds of thousands of masks and other pieces of PPE are now on their way back to China after countries like the Netherlands discovered the masks lacked filters and did not fit properly.

boris johnson

UK’s Boris Johnson ‘Furious’ With China, Says There Could Be A ‘Reckoning’ For China’s Coronavirus ‘Disinformation Campaign’

Boris Johnson

United Kingdom

The following is satirical.
Officials around the country are devising new plans to deal with the Chi-Com Flu. In New York City, Mayor Vladimir de Blasio has announced that, in order to halt the spread of the virus, he will from now on dress in a bright red military uniform with tremendous epaulettes decorated with a braided gold fringe.
De Blasio, or Generalissimo as he’ll now be known, will proceed to march back and forth on the balcony of Gracie Mansion, shouting commands at New Yorkers to remain indoors until everyone realizes that it is he who should be president and not someone else without a bright red uniform and golden epaulettes and who is not named de Blasio.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom is dealing with the virus by grinning in a genuinely weird and sort of scary way that seems totally unrelated to the meaningless but high-sounding phrases coming out of his mouth.
After that, he plans to order California neighbors to spy on one another to make sure no one is taking more walks than he’s supposed to. He’ll also order police helicopters to fly overhead for no apparent reason in order to create a sense of futuristic paranoia and oppression.
Baltimore Mayor Jack Young has asked city residents to stop shooting each other in order to free up hospital beds for people with the virus. Baltimorans hope these restrictions will be lifted quickly so as not to harm the city’s economy, which mostly revolves around bullets.
The news media is also chipping in by screaming inflated disease numbers completely out of context and describing worst case scenarios as if they were inevitable while staring into cameras with wide-eyed, fear-haunted faces, before moving on to recount individual agonizing deaths from the virus hoping they will serve an example of how to irresponsibly spread unnecessary terror.
And of course, governors, mayors and the news media will all continue working together to blame Donald Trump for whatever happens next.
More satire from Andrew Klavan: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flu-side-effects-include-shrinking-reporters-and-forgotten-democrat-candidates-satire">Flu Side Effects Include Shrinking Reporters And Forgotten Democrat Candidates </a>

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio Accepts Resignation Of NYPD Commissioner O&#8217;Neill, And Names Predecessor

Officials Vow To Battle Chi-Com Flu With Completely Useless But Oppressive Measures [Satire]

Bill de Blasio

Gavin Newsom

Satire

On Monday, Max Fisher, international reporter and columnist for The New York Times, posited that Americans should stop blaming the Communist Chinese government for the coronavirus and instead take lessons from the brutally repressive Chinese Communist regime as to how to deal with it.
Fisher tweeted, “US outbreaks may be too far along for the South Korea model to work. The only thing left is the China model. It’s the only known success at subduing a full-blown epidemic. Instead of working with Beijing on finding lessons, the US is scapegoating China to deflect political blame.”
He continued, “I get why no one wants to hold up the China model as laudable, given Beijing&#8217;s failures, propaganda, and authoritarian methods. But none of those are necessarily needed to reproducing China’s real successes, which could at least potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives. If your well-grounded concern is that official Chinese data can never be trusted, it’s worth considering that the WHO is vouching firsthand for the country having achieved a major turnaround. Is it worth even looking for lessons?”
Fisher referenced Dr. Bruce Alyward, a senior adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization, in his last tweet, which is notable as Alyward blew off a journalist who politely asked him if the WHO would consider allowing Taiwan as a member of the organization, which Communist China has opposed. Taiwan had reportedly attempted to alert the WHO to the severity of the coronavirus early on, but the WHO rebuffed their effort to offer information.
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US outbreaks may be too far along for the South Korea model to work. The only thing left is the China model. It’s the only known success at subduing a full-blown epidemic. Instead of working with Beijing on finding lessons, the US is scapegoating China to deflect political blame.
&mdash; Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) <a href="https://twitter.com/Max_Fisher/status/1244608510073147392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I get why no one wants to hold up the China model as laudable, given Beijing&#39;s failures, propaganda, and authoritarian methods. But none of those are necessarily needed to reproducing China’s real successes, which could at least potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives.
&mdash; Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) <a href="https://twitter.com/Max_Fisher/status/1244610807457030147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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If your well-grounded concern is that official Chinese data can never be trusted, it’s worth considering that the WHO is vouching firsthand for the country having achieved a major turnaround. Is it worth even looking for lessons? <a href="https://t.co/231xWZ5rqT">https://t.co/231xWZ5rqT</a>
&mdash; Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) <a href="https://twitter.com/Max_Fisher/status/1244614226401951745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-senior-who-official-avoids-taiwan-question-talks-about-china-abruptly-ends-interview">The Daily Wire</a> reported, Alyward abruptly ended a video interview with Hong a Kong-based journalist, Yvonne Tong, who asked him if the WHO would consider Taiwan’s membership. Alyward would not answer; Tong had to check to see if he was still there, He finally responded, “I’m sorry I couldn’t hear your question, Yvonne,” prompting Tong say she would repeat the question, prompting Alyward to deflect, “No that’s okay, let’s move on to another one then.”
The Daily Wire continued:
<blockquote>Tong pressed for him to answer the question, saying “I’m actually curious on talking about Taiwan as well, Taiwan’s case.” Less than a second later, Dr. Alyward leaned forward in his chair and the screen froze – the video call ended abruptly. The narrator of the interview then provides a voice-over, saying they “decided to give Dr. Alyward another call to follow up.”
Tong managed to reach Dr. Alyward again, and said that she just wanted “to see if you can comment a bit on how Taiwan has done so far, in terms of containing the virus.” The WHO official deflected the question and implied that Taiwan is actually a part of China, and not its own government –a talking point that China’s authoritarian regime has worked hard to maintain.</blockquote>
Alyward has stated that Communist China has done an “extraordinary” job reversing the outbreak of coronavirus, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/08/813401722/who-official-says-coronavirus-containment-remains-possible">NPR</a> reported, saying, &#8220;As long as you have these discrete outbreaks &#8230; there is the opportunity to control them – to get on top of these and contain them and prevent a lot of disease and ultimately death. They actually changed the course of a respiratory-borne outbreak without a vaccine, which was extraordinary.”
Despite Fisher’s protestations, there is ample evidence Communist China is lying about the number of deaths the Chinese people have suffered from COVID-19. On Sunday morning Senator Tom Cotton told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-cotton-chinese-government-still-lying-about-coronavirus-as-evidence-indicates-rising-death-tolls">Fox News</a>:
<blockquote>The Chinese Communist Party is still lying … You see it again today. So, for instance, China says they have no more new cases, no more new deaths, yet they just closed all movie theaters nationwide only a few days after having opened them up … They say they’ve only had 2,500 cases that resulted in deaths or so, yet a single mortuary has ordered more than 5,000 urns. You can look at these basic facts to know that the Chinese Communist Party is still lying today, as they were in December and January, and that’s why what could have been a local problem in Wuhan turned into a global pandemic from which more than 2,000 Americans have now died.</blockquote>
&nbsp;

New York

NYT Writer: Americans Should Stop Blaming Communist Chinese Government, Learn From Them Instead

New York Times

On Sunday, Republican Senator Marco Rubio (FL) slammed the left-leaning media for its &#8220;grotesque&#8221; reports on America&#8217;s rising number of confirmed COVID-19 cases supposedly surpassing communist China&#8217;s — and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) joined in to point out what makes the media&#8217;s response &#8220;even worse.&#8221;
&#8220;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/world/coronavirus-news.html">U.S. Now Leads the World in Confirmed Cases</a>,&#8221; a New York Times headline declared Thursday. &#8220;Scientists warned that the United States someday would become the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. That moment arrived on Thursday,&#8221; the Times reported. &#8220;In the United States, at least 81,321 people are known to have been infected with the coronavirus, including more than 1,000 deaths — more cases than China, Italy or any other country has seen, according to data gathered by The New York Times.&#8221;
Amid a series of similar reports declaring the U.S. the world&#8217;s &#8220;hardest hit&#8221; nation and a flood of responses to the claim from journalists on social media and on the networks, Sen. Rubio posted a blistering tweet on Sunday.
&#8220;Some in our media can’t contain their glee [and] delight in reporting that the U.S. has more [coronavirus] cases than [China],&#8221; Rubio wrote. &#8220;Beyond being grotesque, [it&#8217;s] bad journalism[.] We have NO IDEA how many cases China really has but without any doubt its significantly more than why they admit to.&#8221;
In response, Cruz argued that what makes it &#8220;even worse&#8221; is that members of the media &#8220;KNOW&#8221; China is lying.
&#8220;It’s even worse. We KNOW China is lying,&#8221; Cruz wrote. &#8220;On 3/1, China had 80,026 reported cases. On 3/28, it had 81,439. Does anyone believe this highly contagious virus just stopped in China on 3/1, right as it became a pandemic worldwide? And American media (for $$) willingly repeat the lies.&#8221;
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It’s even worse. We KNOW China is lying. On 3/1, China had 80,026 reported cases. On 3/28, it had 81,439. Does anyone believe this highly contagious virus just stopped in China on 3/1, right as it became a pandemic worldwide? And American media (for $$) willingly repeat the lies. <a href="https://t.co/GovCf3G825">https://t.co/GovCf3G825</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1244344617967013892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As noted by <a href="https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2020/03/30/old-tweets-from-blue-check-journos-prove-marco-rubio-is-100-right-about-media-glee/">Twitchy</a>, past tweets by journalists have helped make the two senators&#8217; points for them. &#8220;We are quite literally doing a worse job of containing the virus than any other country on earth,&#8221; MSNBC&#8217;s Chris Hayes tweeted Friday.
&#8220;The United States now has more coronavirus cases reported than any other country in the world,&#8221; Trump-critic CNN&#8217;s Jim Acosta tweeted. &#8220;The US has just passed China, a country four times larger In population.&#8221;
&#8220;Who&#8217;s the shithole country now?&#8221; GQ&#8217;s Julia Ioffe wrote.
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We are quite literally doing a worse job of containing the virus than any other country on earth.
&mdash; Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1243673639096123394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The US has just passed China, a country four times larger In population. <a href="https://t.co/l8qauNUuDo">https://t.co/l8qauNUuDo</a>
&mdash; Jim Acosta (@Acosta) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1243323926136094722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Who&#39;s the shithole country now? <a href="https://t.co/7NL4aHbyHq">https://t.co/7NL4aHbyHq</a>
&mdash; Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) <a href="https://twitter.com/juliaioffe/status/1243297913863835648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
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In its initial report on the total number of confirmed cases in the U.S. supposedly surpassing China&#8217;s, the Times paints the Trump administration&#8217;s response as one characterized by &#8220;a series of missteps and lost opportunities&#8221; (formatting adjusted):
<blockquote>
With 330 million residents, the United States is the world’s third most populous nation, meaning it provides a vast pool of people who can potentially get Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. And it is a sprawling, cacophonous democracy, where states set their own policies and President Trump has sent mixed messages about the scale of the danger and how to fight it, ensuring there was no coherent, unified response to a grave public health threat.
A series of missteps and lost opportunities dogged the nation’s response. Among them: a failure to take the pandemic seriously even as it engulfed China, a deeply flawed effort to provide broad testing for the virus that left the country blind to the extent of the crisis, and a dire shortage of masks and protective gear to protect doctors and nurses on the front lines, as well as ventilators to keep the critically ill alive.
</blockquote>
Despite the mainstream media&#8217;s intensely critical coverage of the Trump administration&#8217;s handling of the crisis, recent polls have found that a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gallup-trump-approval-spikes-majority-of-americans-approve-of-his-handling-of-crisis">strong majority</a> of the American people approve of the president&#8217;s response, while Gallup found that a majority of Americans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gallup-finds-biggest-loser-in-covid-19-crisis-is-the-media">disapprove of the media&#8217;s coverage of the crisis</a>.

Ted Cruz

Rubio Slams Media For ‘Grotesque’ Reports On U.S. Coronavirus Cases; Cruz Explains Why ‘It’s Even Worse’

Marco Rubio

Communist China, in an attempt to salvage its image over the coronavirus outbreak, has started to deliver hundreds of thousands of testing kits and masks to nations around the world, which reportedly do not work.
&#8220;In Spain, which currently has the fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, the government purchased 640,000 rapid test kits from China and South Korea as it fights the pandemic,&#8221; the Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinese-distributed-faulty-coronavirus-test-kits-throughout-europe-reports-indicate/">reported</a>. &#8220;Experts soon discovered, however, that the tests it purchased from Chinese company Bioeasy were only correctly identifying coronavirus cases 30 percent of the time, according to Spain&#8217;s El Pais.&#8221;
The Free Beacon added, &#8220;The Czech Republic also purchased 150,000 rapid test kits from China, and have likewise found problems. One doctor using the tests found that 80 percent of the kits were faulty and has reverted back to the conventional lab tests, which are significantly slower to process.&#8221;
The Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/coronavirus-stricken-countries-rush-to-dump-defective-chinese-covid-19-tests">reported</a> that Turkey has also had problems with the testing kits that China provided, and that Georgia — the nation, not the state — has canceled its contract with China.
AFP <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/coronavirus-netherlands-recalls-defective-masks-imported-from-china">reported</a> that Dutch officials had to recall 600,000 masks that it received from China because &#8220;they did not close over the face properly, or had defective filters.&#8221;
China&#8217;s attempts to provide nations with needed equipment to fight the outbreak of the coronavirus, which originated in China, is likely part of the communist nation&#8217;s propaganda campaign.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/world/asia/china-coronavirus-response-propaganda.html">reported</a> in February that the outbreak &#8220;undermined&#8221; China&#8217;s economic and military ambitions, and that the propaganda campaign &#8220;suggests the party might be worried about lasting damage.&#8221;
Elizabeth C. Economy, a senior fellow and director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The Times, “The danger for Xi Jinping is that as the virus spreads globally, the role that China’s system of governance played in delaying a timely response will face growing scrutiny and criticism from the international community.”
Economy added that the propaganda campaign was “a last-ditch effort by Xi to deflect blame and avoid a demand by the international community for an honest accounting of what actually transpired.”

Catalan Health Institute Swab Collection For Covid-19 Drug Trial

China Sends Hundreds Of Thousands Of Coronavirus Tests, Masks To Nations. Many Reportedly Don’t Work.

COVID-19

Scientific advisers have reportedly told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the Chinese communist government has downplayed the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak in their country and that the real number could be “15 to 40 times&#8221; higher than what China has reported.
&#8220;Mr Johnson has been warned by scientific advisers that China&#8217;s officially declared statistics on the number of cases of coronavirus could be &#8216;downplayed by a factor of 15 to 40 times,’” The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8163707/Chinas-efforts-blame-coronavirus-army-delegation-Wuhan-infuriate-No-10.html">reported</a>. &#8220;And [the British government] believes China is seeking to build its economic power during the pandemic with &#8216;predatory offers of help&#8217; [to] countries around the world.'&#8221;
According to a Johns Hopkins <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">website</a> that tracks the coronavirus pandemic, China currently has reported approximately 82,000 cases and 3,300 deaths.
A Washington Post analysis cautioned against viewing the numbers out of China as being accurate. The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/23/china-is-reporting-big-successes-coronavirus-fight-dont-trust-numbers/">reported</a>:
<blockquote>An article in the journal Science estimates that 86 percent of Hubei’s cases were undocumented by the time authorities extended the lockdown to Wuhan and other cities on Jan. 23.
It is also likely that officials reported lower numbers of deaths from covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Especially once the central government’s propaganda mission to win the “people’s war” against the virus became clear, numbers shifted to achieve that vision. Such shifts would probably be subtle — not hundreds or thousands of hidden deaths, but instead excluding deaths that could be attributed to other types of pneumonia or heart failure, for instance.</blockquote>
Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-27/stacks-of-urns-in-wuhan-prompt-new-questions-of-virus-s-toll">reported</a> this week that thousands of urns at funeral homes in Wuhan, combined with cremation statistics, raised further questions about the accuracy of numbers that China has reported.
China also has a history of downplaying outbreaks and not reporting accurate information on the outbreaks.
On April 21, 2003, during the SARS outbreak, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/21/world/the-sars-epidemic-epidemic-china-admits-underreporting-its-sars-cases.html">reported</a> that China admitted to under-reporting the total number of SARS cases:
<blockquote>In a rare public admission of failure, if not deception, the Chinese government disclosed today that cases of a dangerous new respiratory disease were many times higher than previously reported, and stripped two top officials of their power. [&#8230;]
Admitting to the existence of more than 200 previously undisclosed SARS patients in military hospitals, the official, Deputy Health Minister Gao Qiang, said that as of Friday Beijing had 339 confirmed cases of SARS and an additional 402 suspected cases.
Ten days ago, Health Minister Zhang Wenkang said there were only 22 confirmed SARS cases in Beijing. Last Wednesday, the World Health Organization caused a stir here by estimating that there could be as many as 100 to 200 cases.</blockquote>
The Mail reported that top officials within the British government are furious that China has tried to falsely blame the United States for the outbreak.
&#8220;There is a disgusting disinformation campaign going on and it is unacceptable,&#8221; one source told The Mail. &#8220;They [the Chinese government] know they have got this badly wrong and rather than owning it they are spreading lies.&#8221;
Another government source told The Mail regarding the U.K.&#8217;s relationship with China, &#8220;It is going to be back to the diplomatic drawing board after this. Rethink is an understatement.&#8221;
&#8220;There has to be a reckoning when this is over,&#8221; another source told The Mail.
A fourth source told The Mail, &#8220;The anger goes right to the top.&#8221;
There has long been speculation that China was not being honest about the true extent of the outbreak in their country, especially since they downplayed the outbreak at the outset, and reportedly silenced doctors and journalists.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month on China&#8217;s attempts to downplay the outbreak of the coronavirus when Wei Guixian, a seafood merchant in Wuhan, became ill with the disease.
The Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932">reported</a>:
<blockquote>For almost three weeks, doctors struggled to connect the dots between Ms. Wei and other early cases, many of them Hua’nan vendors. Patient after patient reported similar symptoms, but many, like her, visited small, poorly resourced clinics and hospitals. Some patients balked at paying for chest scans; others, including Ms. Wei, refused to be transferred to bigger facilities that were better-equipped to identify infectious diseases.
When doctors did finally establish the Hua’nan link in late December, they quarantined Ms. Wei and others like her and raised the alarm to their superiors. But they were prevented by Chinese authorities from alerting their peers, let alone the public.
One of the first doctors to alert Chinese authorities was criticized for “spreading rumors” after sharing with a former medical-school classmate a test result showing a patient had a coronavirus. Another doctor had to write a self-criticism letter saying his warnings “had a negative impact.”
Even after Chinese President Xi Jinping personally ordered officials to control the outbreak on Jan. 7, authorities kept denying it could spread between humans—something doctors had known was happening since late December—and went ahead with a Chinese Lunar New Year banquet involving tens of thousands of families in Wuhan.</blockquote>
The New York Times also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/opinion/coronavirus-china-government.html">reported</a> that China acted &#8220;decisively,&#8221; but not against the virus, rather they acted &#8220;against whistle-blowers who were trying to call attention to the public health threat.&#8221;
Two weeks ago, the Financial Times <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2a70a02a-644a-11ea-a6cd-df28cc3c6a68">reported</a> that Taiwan reportedly warned the World Health Organization about the outbreak in December, and that the organization did nothing with the warning.

CHINA-BEIJING-XI JINPING-SYMPOSIUM-POVERTY ALLEVIATION (CN)

British Scientific Advisers Claim China’s Outbreak Could Be ‘15 To 40 Times’ Worse Than Reported, Report Says

New cremation statistics reportedly from inside Wuhan combined with photos of thousands of urns delivered to funeral homes is fueling speculation about the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak in communist China.
Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-27/stacks-of-urns-in-wuhan-prompt-new-questions-of-virus-s-toll">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Outside one funeral home, trucks shipped in about 2,500 urns on both Wednesday and Thursday, according to Chinese media outlet Caixin. Another picture published by Caixin showed 3,500 urns stacked on the ground inside. It’s unclear how many of the urns had been filled.
&#8230;
There were 56,007 cremations in Wuhan in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to data from the city’s civil affairs agency. The number of cremations was 1,583 higher than those in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2,231 higher than the fourth quarter of 2017.</blockquote>
Bloomberg News added that skepticism about the true extent of the outbreak in China has been fueled by a variety of factors, including China&#8217;s &#8220;attempts to cover up the outbreak,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/health/coronavirus-reported-cases-covid-19-change-intl/index.html">revisions</a> to how cases were counted, and Beijing&#8217;s propaganda campaign that <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/chinese-state-media-falsely-claim-u-s-army-athlete-brought-coronavirus-to-china/">falsely claimed</a> that the U.S. military brought the virus to Wuhan.
The Atlantic <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/china-trolling-world-and-avoiding-blame/608332/">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The evidence of China’s deliberate cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan is a matter of public record. In suppressing information about the virus, doing little to contain it, and allowing it to spread unchecked in the crucial early days and weeks, the regime imperiled not only its own country and its own citizens but also the more than 100 nations now facing their own potentially devastating outbreaks. More perniciously, the Chinese government censored and detained those brave doctors and whistleblowers who attempted to sound the alarm and warn their fellow citizens when they understood the gravity of what was to come.</blockquote>
&#8220;Many people who died had Covid-19 symptoms, but weren’t tested and excluded from the official case tally, Caixin said,&#8221; Bloomberg News added. &#8220;There were also patients who died of other diseases due to a lack of proper treatment when hospitals were overwhelmed dealing with those who had the coronavirus.&#8221;
Bloomberg News added that employees who picked up the phone at six out of the eight funeral homes in Wuhan did not give out any numbers. The other two funeral homes did not answer the phone.
The news comes as a Johns Hopkins website that tracks the outbreak of the coronavirus indicated late on Saturday that over 660,000 people have been infected worldwide and nearly 31,000 have died. The true number of cases and deaths is likely higher, especially in countries like <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/irans-coronavirus-problem-lot-worse-it-seems/607663/">Iran</a>.
Others have pointed to a drop off in millions of cellphone users in China as evidence that the outbreak was greater than reported. However, a separate <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-23/china-s-mobile-carriers-lose-15-million-users-as-virus-bites">report</a> from Bloomberg News cautioned that the massive drop off “could be caused by migrant workers – who often have one subscription for where they work and another for their home region – canceling their work-region account after the virus prevented them from returning to work after the Lunar New Year holidays that began in late January, said Chris Lane, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein &amp; Co.&#8221;
Communist China also has a track record of giving false numbers on virus outbreaks in the country.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/21/world/the-sars-epidemic-epidemic-china-admits-underreporting-its-sars-cases.html">reported</a> on the SARS outbreak in April 2003:
<blockquote>In a rare public admission of failure, if not deception, the Chinese government disclosed today that cases of a dangerous new respiratory disease were many times higher than previously reported, and stripped two top officials of their power.
&#8230;
Admitting to the existence of more than 200 previously undisclosed SARS patients in military hospitals, the official, Deputy Health Minister Gao Qiang, said that as of Friday Beijing had 339 confirmed cases of SARS and an additional 402 suspected cases.
Ten days ago, Health Minister Zhang Wenkang said there were only 22 confirmed SARS cases in Beijing. Last Wednesday, the World Health Organization caused a stir here by estimating that there could be as many as 100 to 200 cases.</blockquote>

CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS

Thousands Of Urns, Cremation Stats Spur Questions Of Coronavirus’ Toll On China, Report Says

Dr. Bruce Alyward, a senior adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization, abruptly ended a video interview with Hong a Kong-based journalist, Yvonne Tong, who asked him a question that Communist China might not have wanted him to answer.
“Will the WHO consider Taiwan’s membership,” Tong asked Dr. Alyward, who proceeded to stare blankly until she checked to see if he was still on the other end.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t hear your question, Yvonne,” responded Dr. Alyward, prompting Tong to say she would ask the question again. But Dr. Alyward indicated that he didn’t need the journalist to ask the question again: “No that’s okay, let’s move on to another one then.”
Tong pressed for him to answer the question, saying “I’m actually curious on talking about Taiwan as well, Taiwan’s case.”
Less than a second later, Dr. Alyward leaned forward in his chair and the screen froze – the video call ended abruptly. The narrator of the interview then provides a voice-over, saying they “decided to give Dr. Alyward another call to follow up.”
Tong managed to reach Dr. Alyward again, and said that she just wanted “to see if you can comment a bit on how Taiwan has done so far, in terms of containing the virus.”
The WHO official deflected the question and implied that Taiwan is actually a part of China, and not its own government – a talking point that China’s authoritarian regime has worked hard to maintain.
“Well, we’ve already talked about China,” says Dr. Alyward, “and if you look across all the different areas of China, they’ve actually all done quite a good job. So with that, I’d like to thank you very much for inviting us to participate, and good luck as you go forward with the battle in Hong Kong.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
‼️WOW‼️ Bruce Aylward/<a href="https://twitter.com/WHO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WHO</a> did an interview with HK&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/rthk_news?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rthk_news</a> &amp; when asked about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Taiwan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Taiwan</a> he pretended not to hear the question. The journalist asks again &amp; he hangs up!
She calls back &amp; he said &#8220;Well, we&#8217;ve already talked about China.&#8221;
ENJOY+SHARE THE MADNESS! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CoronaVirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CoronaVirus</a> <a href="https://t.co/jgpHRVHjNX">pic.twitter.com/jgpHRVHjNX</a>
— 😷Hong Kong World City 🖐🏻☔️ (@HKWORLDCITY) <a href="https://twitter.com/HKWORLDCITY/status/1243865641448169474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
Dr. Alyward recently travelled to China as the leader of a WHO fact-finding trip, during which he reported that the communist country did an “extraordinary” job reversing the outbreak of coronavirus, which originated in China, reports <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/08/813401722/who-official-says-coronavirus-containment-remains-possible">NPR</a>. 
&#8220;As long as you have these discrete outbreaks &#8230; there is the opportunity to control them – to get on top of these and contain them and prevent a lot of disease and ultimately death,&#8221; Dr. Aylward told the news agency in early March. &#8220;They actually changed the course of a respiratory-borne outbreak without a vaccine, which was extraordinary.”
As <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/31/800975655/why-theyre-called-wet-markets-and-what-health-risks-they-might-pose">NPR</a> has previously reported, the coronavirus epidemic has been linked to the Huanan Seafood Market, where live animals and ocean critters are sold and butchered, and close-quarters make it easy for diseases to spread. 
While doctors in the area discovered the virus-market link by late December, Chinese officials declined to warn the public and accused doctors of spreading rumors if they talked about the disease, reports <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932">The Wall Street Journal</a>. 
The government didn’t announce the virus could spread between humans until January 20, and only instituted a quarantine for Wuhan and several other cities three days later – nearly a month after doctors established the link to the market, reports The Journal.

SWITZERLAND-DRCONGO-HEALTH-EBOLA-VIRUS-UN

WATCH: Senior WHO Official Avoids Taiwan Question, Talks About China, Abruptly Ends Interview

Taiwan

World Health Organization

In a <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2020/03/china-is-legally-responsible-for-covid-19-damage-and-claims-could-be-in-the-trillions/">lengthy piece</a> about the responsibility for the impact of the coronavirus on the world, a professor of international maritime law at the U.S. Naval War College surmises that the United States should make China make full reparations for the damage wrought by the virus.
James Kraska, the chair and Charles H. Stockton professor of international maritime law in the Stockton Center for International Law at the U.S. Naval War College, starts his essay by noting that after the novel coronavirus “incubated in Wuhan from mid-December to mid-January, the Chinese state made evidently intentional misrepresentations to its people concerning the outbreak, providing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/02/01/early-missteps-state-secrecy-china-likely-allowed-coronavirus-spread-farther-faster/">false assurances to the population</a> preceding the approach of the Lunar New Year celebrations on Jan. 25.”
Kraska notes that the initial outbreak likely came from workers and customers of the city’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in mid-December, and on Dec. 26,  <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/02/01/early-missteps-state-secrecy-china-likely-allowed-coronavirus-spread-farther-faster/">Chinese news outlets released reports</a> of an anonymous laboratory technician who said the virus was 87 percent similar to SARS. That was followed by Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, who publicized the news in an online chatroom on Dec. 30.
Kraska cites Wuhan public health authorities leaving out Li’s discussion about SARS or a novel coronavirus. He delineates how Li and other medical professionals were shut down from publicizing what was really going on. He writes, “On Dec. 31, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission falsely stated that there was <a href="http://wjw.wuhan.gov.cn/front/web/showDetail/2019123108989">no human-to-human transmission</a> of the disease, which it described as a seasonal flu that was ‘preventable and controllable,” adding, “On Feb. 1, the New York Times reported that “the government’s initial handling of the epidemic <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage.">allowed the virus to gain a tenacious hold</a>. At critical moments, officials chose to put secrecy and order ahead of openly confronting the growing crisis to avoid public alarm and political embarrassment.”
Kraska points out the Chinese government <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/world-health-organization-china-not-sharing-data-on-health-care-worker-coronavirus-infections/2020/02/26/28064fda-54e4-11ea-80ce-37a8d4266c09_story.html">failed to expeditiously share information</a> with the World Health Organization.
Then Kraska gets down to brass tacks regarding holding China responsible:
<blockquote>As one of the 194 states party to the legally binding 2005 <a href="https://www.who.int/ihr/publications/9789241596664/en/">International Health Regulations</a>, China has a duty to rapidly gather information about and contribute to a common understanding of what may constitute a public health emergency with potential international implications … Article 6 of the International Health Regulations requires states to provide expedited, timely, accurate, and sufficiently detailed information to WHO about the potential public health emergencies identified in the second annex in order to galvanize efforts to prevent pandemics.
WHO also has a mandate in Article 10 to seek verification from states with respect to unofficial reports of pathogenic microorganisms. States are required to provide timely and transparent information as requested within 24 hours, and to participate in collaborative assessments of the risks presented. Yet China <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/health/cdc-coronavirus-china.html">rejected repeated offers of epidemic investigation assistance</a> from WHO in late January (and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early February), without explanation.
Under Article 1 of the International Law Commission’s 2001 <a href="https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/international-law-commission-articles-state-responsibility">Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts</a>, states are responsible for their internationally wrongful acts … While China’s failures began at the local level, they quickly spread throughout China’s government, all the way up to Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party …
Even if China were to disavow conduct by local authorities or state media as not necessarily directly attributable to the national government, such actions nevertheless are accorded that status if and to the extent the state acknowledged and adopted the conduct as its own, as was done by the officials in Beijing (Article 11).
Wrongful acts are those that constitute a breach of an international obligation (Article 11). A breach is an act that is “not in conformity with what is required of it by that obligation … .” China’s failure to expeditiously and transparently share information with WHO in accordance with the International Health Regulations constitutes an early and subsequently extended breach of its legal obligations (Article 14). Consequently, China bears legal responsibility for its internationally wrongful acts (Article 28).</blockquote>
Kraska states bluntly: “The consequences include full reparations for the injury caused by the wrongful acts. China did not intentionally create a global pandemic, but its malfeasance is certainly the cause of it. An epidemiological model at the University of Southampton found that had China acted responsibly just one, two, or three weeks more quickly, the number affected by the virus would have been cut by <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.03.20029843v3.full.pdf">66 percent, 86 percent, and 95 percent, respectively</a>. By its failure to adhere to its legal commitments to the International Health Regulations, the Chinese Communist Party has let loose a global contagion, with mounting material consequences.”
More:
<blockquote>Under Article 31 of the <a href="https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/international-law-commission-articles-state-responsibility">Articles of State Responsibility</a>, states are required to make full reparations for the injury caused by their internationally wrongful acts. Injuries include damages, whether material or moral. Injured states are entitled to full reparation “in the form of restitution in kind, compensation, satisfaction and assurances and guarantees of non-repetition” (Article 34). Restitution in kind means that the injured state is entitled to be placed in the same position as existed before the wrongful acts were committed (Article 35).
To the extent that restitution is not made, injured states are entitled to compensation (Article 36), and satisfaction, in terms of an apology and internal discipline and even criminal prosecution of officials in China who committed malfeasance (Article 37). Finally, injured states are entitled to guarantees of non-repetition, although the 2005 International Health Regulations were designed for this purpose after SARS (Article 48).”</blockquote>
After opining, “No one expects that China will fulfill its obligations, or take steps required by the law of state responsibility,” Kraska writes, “The law of state responsibility permits injured states to take lawful countermeasures against China by suspending their own compliance with obligations owed to China as a means of inducing Beijing to fulfill its responsibilities and debt (Article 49). Countermeasures shall not be disproportionate to the degree of gravity of the wrongful acts and the effects inflicted on injured states (Article 51).”
Other ideas: “ … action could include removal of China from leadership positions and memberships, as China now chairs <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-09-16/coming-soon-united-nations-chinese-leadership-and-authoritarian-values">four of 15</a> organizations of the United Nations system. States could reverse China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, suspend air travel to China for a period of years, broadcast Western media in China, and undermine China’s famous internet firewall that keeps the country’s information ecosystem sealed off from the rest of the world.”
The article concludes with a note stating: “The views expressed here are his own and do not represent those of the Stockton Center, the U.S. Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or any part of the U.S. government.”
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Stacks and sheet of US one hundred dollar bills, elevated view

U.S. Naval College Professor: China Should Make Full Reparations For Damage To U.S.

Economy

On Thursday, China officially banned most foreigners from entering the country, concerned that they may bring the COVID-19 virus back into the country after transmission has allegedly slowed down. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs <a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/t1761867.shtml?from=timeline&amp;isappinstalled=0">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>In view of the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world, China has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreign nationals holding visas or residence permits still valid to the time of this announcement, effective from 0 a.m., 28 march 2020. Entry by foreign nationals with APEC Business Travel Cards will be suspended as well. Policies including port visas, 24/72/144-hour visa-free transit policy, Hainan 30-day visa-free policy, 15-day visa-free policy specified for foreign cruise-group-tour through Shanghai Port, Guangdong 144-hour visa-free policy specified for foreign tour groups from Hong Kong or Macao SAR, and Guangxi 15-day visa-free policy specified for foreign tour groups of ASEAN countries will also be temporarily suspended.
Entry with diplomatic, service, courtesy or C visas will not be affected. Foreign nationals coming to China for necessary economic, trade, scientific or technological activities or out of emergency humanitarian needs may apply for visas at Chinese embassies or consulates. Entry by foreign nationals with visas issued after this announcement will not be affected.
The suspension is a temporary measure that China is compelled to take in light of the outbreak situation and the practices of other countries. China will stay in close touch with all sides and properly handle personnel exchanges with the rest of the world under the special circumstances. The above-mentioned measures will be calibrated in light of the evolving situation and announced accordingly.</blockquote>
After President Trump reacted swiftly to the WHO’s announcement that human transmission of COVID-19 was possible, issuing his travel ban on people coming from China the very next day, he was attacked for his alleged xenophobia by various quarters, including former Vice President Joe Biden, who attacked Trump at a campaign rally, saying, “In moments like this, this is where the credibility of a president is most needed, as he explains what we should and should not do. This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia, hysterical xenophobia, to uh, and fear mongering.”
 After Trump implemented the travel ban from Europe, Biden <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/19/neither-biden-nor-sanders-would-have-saved-american-lives-with-travel-bans-like-trump-did/">tweeted</a>, “A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it.”
On Tuesday morning, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/listen-fauci-blasts-media-for-trying-to-divide-him-and-trump">interviewed on the radio</a> and lauded Trump for his swift reaction, saying:
<blockquote>I believe Italy got into this much trouble for a number of reasons which hopefully we have avoided, namely the influx of cases from China were not shut off immediately in Italy and one of the important things that we did was the president’s decision to very early on, stop the influx, first from China, and now from Europe, particularly the countries Italy, France and others, the entire European Union. Because one of the things that feeds the country is when you have influx of cases from outside.</blockquote>

Medical Assistance Team Returns To Yunnan From Hubei

Who’s ‘Xenophobic’ Now: China Bans Most Foreigners From Entering Because Of Coronavirus

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the other member nations of the G7 fully understood that China was launching a categorically false propaganda campaign claiming that the U.S. Military was responsible for bringing the coronavirus to China.
&#8220;We’ve wanted to work with the Chinese Communist Party throughout this crisis – this crisis that began in Wuhan, China,&#8221; Pompeo said. &#8220;We tried – you’ll remember – from the opening days to get our scientists, our experts on the ground there so that we could begin to assist in the global response to what began there in China, but we weren’t able to do that. The Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t permit that to happen.&#8221;
&#8220;You’ll recall, too, at the beginning of this, when it was clear that this was an issue, China knew about it, they were the first country to know about the risk to the world from this virus, and they repeatedly delayed sharing that information with the globe,&#8221; Pompeo continued, later adding, &#8220;There was a lot of discussion today amongst the G7 about the intentional disinformation campaign that China has been and continues to be engaged in. You see it. You see it in the social media. You see it in remarks from senior people inside the Chinese Communist Party talking about whether this was a U.S. – U.S. brought to China. I mean, this is crazy talk. And every member of the G7 today saw that – this disinformation campaign. China now making small sales of product around the world and claiming that they are now the white hat in what has taken place here.&#8221;
A reporter later asked Pompeo about members of Congress who have started talking about launching an international investigation into China over what happened.
&#8220;With respect to the first, I’ll leave to Congress. I’m not doing that anymore,&#8221; Pompeo said. &#8220;I’ll leave to Congress to decide how they want to proceed. But as I said earlier, today is not the day for recriminations and accountability. We need to make clear that the information that is available to everyone in the world is available. That means full transparency by everyone, including by the Chinese Communist Party. This is a continuing challenge. We still need good information from the Chinese Communist Party about what has taken place there and the level of the virus that continues inside of that country. We need accurate, transparent information just like we’re demanding from every country around the world.&#8221;
&#8220;But there will be a right time,&#8221; Pompeo added. &#8220;After we’ve managed to address this crisis, after we’ve managed to get these economies back on their feet, there’ll be a time for the world to evaluate responsibility for what took place.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Sec. of State <a href="https://twitter.com/mikepompeo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikePompeo</a>: There was discussion at the G-7 about the “Intentional Disinformation Campaign” that China has been engaged in. The idea that the U.S. Military brought Coronavirus to China is “Crazy talk”. <a href="https://t.co/NnDuLR8MfY">pic.twitter.com/NnDuLR8MfY</a>
&mdash; ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) <a href="https://twitter.com/alx/status/1243004320464941056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>SECRETARY POMPEO: So let me take the first question to begin with. We’ve wanted to work with the Chinese Communist Party throughout this crisis – this crisis that began in Wuhan, China. We tried – you’ll remember – from the opening days to get our scientists, our experts on the ground there so that we could begin to assist in the global response to what began there in China, but we weren’t able to do that. The Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t permit that to happen.
You’ll recall, too, at the beginning of this, when it was clear that this was an issue, China knew about it, they were the first country to know about the risk to the world from this virus, and they repeatedly delayed sharing that information with the globe.
So yes, we desperately want to work with every country around the world. This is a global pandemic; this is something the United States wants to work with every country, including China, to figure out how to resolve to keep as many people alive, as many people as healthy, and then to restore our economies that have been decimated by the Wuhan virus.
So we are – we are prepared to work with them, we’re prepared to assist them. We want good things for the Chinese people as well. This activity resulted in the deaths of lots of people in China as well. It’s not just been something that is extraterritorial to China. But it’s really important that we make sure we get this right. There was a lot of discussion today amongst the G7 about the intentional disinformation campaign that China has been and continues to be engaged in. You see it. You see it in the social media. You see it in remarks from senior people inside the Chinese Communist Party talking about whether this was a U.S. – U.S. brought to China. I mean, this is crazy talk. And every member of the G7 today saw that – this disinformation campaign. China now making small sales of product around the world and claiming that they are now the white hat in what has taken place here. This isn’t a time for blame; this is a time to solve this global problem. We are focused on that today. It’s where the G7 members spent all of their time. But every one of the nations that was at that meeting this morning was deeply aware of the disinformation campaign that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in to try and deflect from what has really taken place here.
And with respect to the statement, I always think about these meetings the right answer is to make sure we have the same message coming out of it. I am confident that when you hear the other six foreign ministers speak, they will have a common understanding of what we talked about today and we will talk about the things that we have agreement on, and I’m sure they’ll express a handful of places – like the JCPOA – where we have tactical differences about – to achieve our strategic outcomes. Make no mistake about it, everyone in that meeting this morning was very focused on making sure that we not only solve the health crisis associated with the Wuhan virus but also the economic challenges that face the globe as we confront it as well.
MR BROWN: Arshad.
QUESTION: On Afghanistan.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: On Monday, in your written statement, you said that the United States would immediately reduce assistance to Afghanistan by a billion dollars. One, what exactly are you cutting? Two, President Ghani this morning is reported to have issued instructions to his ministers of interior, defense, and finance to cut their security budgets by $1 billion total. It doesn’t seem like he’s too worried about losing U.S. assistance. What’s your response to that? And three, is the United States prepared to proceed with its planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as long as the Taliban honors its agreement not to target U.S. forces and to cut ties, and regardless whether the President Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah are able to resolve their disputes over the election?
SECRETARY POMPEO: I traveled to Afghanistan at a time when there’s not much travel taking place for a very specific purpose. I went there to make sure that Afghan leaders understood America’s interest there, the role that all of the Resolute Support Mission has played there over the years, and to urge them to execute on the commitments that they had made in the joint declaration – that is, the Afghan leadership had made a set of commitments, things that they would live up to, and so far they have not executed on that. I went there to talk to them about how we could assist them in delivering on that.
I’ll be honest, it was very frustrating. There – this political crisis that had existed that I went there to try and push forward – to your point and the statements that you just described, I haven’t seen those statements – we need all of the political leadership in Afghanistan to come together: President Ghani, Dr. Abdullah, all of those who have a shared interest in moving Afghanistan forward, in creating peace and reconciliation for the Afghan people, to better the lives for Afghan people, to come up with a team that can sit down and have conversations broadly with all Afghanis, intra-Afghan negotiations to resolve these set of outstanding issues. That is our expectation for the Afghan leadership. It’s why I went there. It’s what I talked about. It’s why we made the announcement when we were unable to achieve that during my meeting. It’s why we made the announcement that said the United States is prepared to reduce security assistance to them. And we will continue to try and convince all the parties, the Taliban included, that it’s time for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
The U.S. force posture there, we’ve made clear to all our partners we are going to continue to evaluate that as we move forward. We have commitments. And as we execute this plan, we will watch the conditions. We’ve talked about this as a conditions-based plan. We will continue to live up to those to make all the parties live up to those conditions as we work our way forward. In the end, everyone understands, and everybody that I met with – I met not only with President Ghani and with Dr. Abdullah, but I met with the security leaders, I met with Mullah Baradar in Doha – every one of them understand that this isn’t going to be resolved on the ground with guns and mortars. This is going to be resolved through a political process, and it is time for that political process to begin with all the Afghans coming together around the table.
I’m still optimistic that we can get there. Time is of the essence.
QUESTION: What’s – and what are you cutting? What’s the (inaudible) that you’re —
SECRETARY POMPEO: Next question, please.
QUESTION: — that you said you were cutting immediately?
MR BROWN: Let’s go to the back to Michel.
QUESTION: Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: There are talks in Congress to hold China responsible for the coronavirus outbreak because it hid information, and they called on China to pay damages to the U.S. and the world. Are you planning – is the administration planning to sue China or to ask China to compensate? And on Syria, the State Department has asked the regime to release prisoners, U.S. citizens among them. Are you planning to put any pressure on the regime in case they didn’t deliver?
SECRETARY POMPEO: Your second question, we have asked the Syrians to release all those that are wrongfully detained, not only Americans but others as well. We’ve called on the Islamic Republican of Iran to do the same. We think in this time where there is enormous health risk to these individuals that on a purely humanitarian basis – forget the other reasons that it would be – it is – that they are in the first instance wrongfully detained, we think this would be a good opportunity for them to make a humanitarian assistance and allow these Americans to return home to their families.
With respect to the first, I’ll leave to Congress. I’m not doing that anymore. I’ll leave to Congress to decide how they want to proceed. But as I said earlier, today is not the day for recriminations and accountability. We need to make clear that the information that is available to everyone in the world is available. That means full transparency by everyone, including by the Chinese Communist Party. This is a continuing challenge. We still need good information from the Chinese Communist Party about what has taken place there and the level of the virus that continues inside of that country. We need accurate, transparent information just like we’re demanding from every country around the world. But there will be a right time. After we’ve managed to address this crisis, after we’ve managed to get these economies back on their feet, there’ll be a time for the world to evaluate responsibility for what took place.
Thank you all very much. Have a great day.</blockquote>

Michael Pompeo

Secretary Of State Pompeo: World Will Hold China Responsible For What Has Happened

Mike Pompeo

On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) appeared on Fox News to speak about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Host Steve Doocy first asked Sen. Cotton about the coronavirus relief legislation that lawmakers have been haggling over for the last several days. Cotton assured viewers that the bill isn’t the one Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) proposed, and that there would be “some more money” for “people who are losing their job” and “medical equipment,” among other things.
Doocy also asked Cotton about a recent op-ed penned by the senator and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) for Fox News in which they argue that the United States must end its pharmaceutical dependence on China.
Cotton replied:
<blockquote>Yeah, things like antibiotics and ibuprofen and Advil are made in China for the most part. It&#8217;s time to bring that manufacturing capacity back to the United States, time to bring a lot more back to the United States from China. China unleashed this plague on the world, and there will be a reckoning when we&#8217;re on the back side of it.</blockquote>
In the op-ed, Cotton and Gallagher write that America’s dependence on China for pharmaceuticals poses a national security risk, and that the “low quality” of Chinese-made drugs has been dangerous in the past and could be dangerous in the future as well.
To put the Unites States’ dependence on Chinese pharmaceuticals to an end, Cotton and Gallagher have introduced the “Protecting Our Pharmaceutical Supply Chain From China Act.”
They <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/sen-cotton-and-rep-gallagher-china-stole-us-capacity-to-make-drugs-we-must-take-it-back">write</a>:
<blockquote>Our bill would require federal entities like the Department of Defense, VA hospitals, Medicare and Medicaid to cut off purchases of drugs with Chinese ingredients no later than 2025. This requirement would phase in over a period of years to give drug companies time to adjust, but would put clear pressure on importers to stop doing business with the CCP. The bill also would require drug companies to label the origins of ingredients in their drugs, so U.S. consumers are better informed of where their medicine comes from and whether it’s likely to be safe.</blockquote>
The bill would also encourage “the medical industry to manufacture in our country again by offering full and immediate expensing of factories, warehouses and capital goods related to the manufacture of drugs and medical devices on American soil.”
Earlier in the segment, Doocy asked Cotton about the timeline for the reopening of the economy, citing President Trump’s recent remarks that he would like to see the economy reopen “in stages” starting around Easter.
Cotton replied:
<blockquote>Well, I’d love to see that as well, but I think we have to exercise caution, Steve. The one thing we don’t want to see is a relaxing of some of the restrictions on public activities and then a resurgence of the pandemic. Ultimately, this is going to be a multifaceted response. It’s gonna require more testing and more personal protective equipment for our doctors and our nurses, making sure that none of our hospitals, whether it’s in rural Arkansas or New York City, are overwhelmed, not just by coronavirus cases, but by other cases needing intensive care.
And then also taking assessment of conditions on a regional or even local basis. Remember, the president didn’t “shut down the country.” These are decisions that are being made by governors and by mayors at the local and the state level based on conditions in their states. And ultimately, I think whenever we get back on our feet, get back to work, it’s gonna happen on a rolling basis in places that haven’t had a large outbreak or have got an outbreak under control, so you won’t just see a single, nationwide set of conditions. I think you’ll see it down to the local and state level as the president and the federal government works with our governors and our mayors.</blockquote>
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Sen. Tom Cotton

Sen. Cotton Introduces Bill To End Dependence On China-Made Pharmaceuticals: ‘China Unleashed This Plague’

Tom Cotton

According to a top security firm, in early 2020 state-backed Chinese hackers conducted one of the largest espionage campaigns in recent years, targeting telecommunications, healthcare, government, defense, finance, petrochemical, manufacturing, and transportation organizations in the United states and around the world.
Referring to the hackers as APT41, Christopher Glyer, Dan Perez,Sarah Jones, and Steve Miller of <a href="https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/03/apt41-initiates-global-intrusion-campaign-using-multiple-exploits.html">FireEye</a> stated, “This activity is one of the most widespread campaigns we have seen from China-nexus espionage actors in recent years. While APT41 has previously conducted activity with an extensive initial entry such as the trojanizing of NetSarang software, this scanning and exploitation has focused on a subset of our customers, and seems to reveal a high operational tempo and wide collection requirements for APT41.” They noted, “Between January 20 and March 11, FireEye observed <a style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" href="https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/08/game-over-detecting-and-stopping-an-apt41-operation.html">APT41</a> attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in <a style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" href="https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-19781">Citrix NetScaler/ADC</a>, Cisco routers, and <a style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" href="https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-10189">Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central</a> at over 75 FireEye customers.”
<a href="https://www.cyberscoop.com/apt-41-citrix-cisco-zoho-china-cyber-espionage-fireeye/">Cyberscoop</a> explained, “APT41 zeroed in on victims by going after vulnerabilities in Citrix’s Application Delivery Controller (ADC), Cisco’s routers, and Zoho’s ManageEngine Desktop Central, according to <a href="https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/03/apt41-initiates-global-intrusion-campaign-using-multiple-exploits.html">FireEye</a>. The <a href="https://www.cyberscoop.com/tag/citrix/">Citrix vulnerability</a> was publicly revealed a month prior to APT41’s campaign, and a researcher only revealed code for a zero-day remote code execution vulnerability in <a href="https://www.cyberscoop.com/tag/zoho/">Zoho</a> ManageEngine Desktop Central three days before the group took advantage, suggesting the group is interested in promptly taking advantages of reported flaws.”
The Trump administration is well-aware of China’s maleficent cyber-activities; in December, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein warned, “China stands accused of engaging in criminal activity that victimizes individuals and companies in the United States, violates our laws, and departs from international norms of responsible state behavior.” The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department warned Beijing to “abide by its commitment to act responsibly in cyberspace,” adding that the U.S. would “take appropriate measures to defend our interests,” as <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/20/trump-administration-us-allies-condemn-china-for-brazen-cyberattacks-1070984">Politico</a> reported.
Glyer told CyberScoop that he and his fellow researchers think APT41 designed malware in-house to ensure its success, adding, “It is likely that APT41 had to develop custom malware to target Cisco routers because public samples are not available.”
Cyberscoop noted, “… the group has been known to conduct state-sponsored <a href="https://www.cyberscoop.com/tag/espionage">cyber-espionage</a>. It has also run cyber-operations aimed at personal or <a href="https://www.cyberscoop.com/tag/financial/">financial gain</a>. APT41 has also targeted the <a href="https://www.cyberscoop.com/apt41-fireeye-china/">gaming sector</a>, hacked organizations focused on <a href="https://www.cyberscoop.com/china-cancer-research-hacking-fireeye/">cancer research</a>, and successfully exploited an Atlassian <a href="https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/08/game-over-detecting-and-stopping-an-apt41-operation.html">Confluence vulnerability</a> against a U.S. based university, according to FireEye.”
Glyer stated, “Based on our current visibility it is hard to ascribe a motive or intent to the activity by APT41. There are multiple possible explanations for the increase in activity including the trade war between the United States and China as well as the COVID-19 pandemic driving China to want intelligence on a variety of subjects including trade, travel, communications, manufacturing, research and international relations.”
One clue that the hackers came from China was the fact that they paused during both Lunar New Year and while areas of china were quarantined from the coronavirus.
FireEye concluded, “In 2020, APT41 continues to be one of the most prolific threats that FireEye currently tracks. This new activity from this group shows how resourceful and how quickly they can leverage newly disclosed vulnerabilities to their advantage.”

Hacker With Obscured Face Using Laptop At Desk

State-Backed Chinese Hackers Launched Massive Campaign Against U.S. In Early 2020, Report Says

Hacker

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced a resolution calling for an international investigation into communist China&#8217;s cover-up of the coronavirus in Wuhan during the early days of outbreak.
In a statement, Hawley said that China must &#8220;pay back all nations impacted because China lied about the spread of the virus.&#8221;
&#8220;Since day one, the Chinese Communist Party intentionally lied to the world about the origin of this pandemic,&#8221; Hawley said. &#8220;The CCP was aware of the reality of the virus as early as December but ordered laboratories to destroy samples and forced doctors to keep silent. It is time for an international investigation into the role their cover-up played in the spread of this devastating pandemic. The CCP must be held to account for what the world is now suffering.&#8221;
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
&#8220;The Communist government of China knowingly withheld critical information needed to combat the spread of the Chinese-born COVID-19 and to this day continues to spread lies and disinformation on the origin of the deadly virus,&#8221; Stefanik said in a statement. &#8220;There is no doubt that China’s unconscionable decision to orchestrate an elaborate coverup of the wide-ranging and deadly implications of coronavirus led to the death of thousands of people, including hundreds of Americans and climbing. This Resolution calls for China to provide compensation for the harm, loss, and destruction their arrogance brought upon the rest of the world. Simply put – China must, and will, be held accountable.&#8221;
The Wall Street Journal earlier this month highlighted some of the cover-up that China engaged in back in December when Wei Guixian, a seafood merchant in a Wuhan market, became one of the first people to become sick on December 10.
The Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932">reported</a>:
<blockquote>For almost three weeks, doctors struggled to connect the dots between Ms. Wei and other early cases, many of them Hua’nan vendors. Patient after patient reported similar symptoms, but many, like her, visited small, poorly resourced clinics and hospitals. &#8230;
When doctors did finally establish the Hua’nan link in late December, they quarantined Ms. Wei and others like her and raised the alarm to their superiors. But they were prevented by Chinese authorities from alerting their peers, let alone the public.
One of the first doctors to alert Chinese authorities was criticized for “spreading rumors” after sharing with a former medical-school classmate a test result showing a patient had a coronavirus. Another doctor had to write a self-criticism letter saying his warnings “had a negative impact.”
Even after Chinese President Xi Jinping personally ordered officials to control the outbreak on Jan. 7, authorities kept denying it could spread between humans—something doctors had known was happening since late December—and went ahead with a Chinese Lunar New Year banquet involving tens of thousands of families in Wuhan.</blockquote>
China also refused help from the World Health Organization for months and never let the CDC into the country to help contain the outbreak and to help research the virus.
A documentary by Vox highlighted how China&#8217;s communist government is also responsible for the wet markets in the country where the virus is believed to have originated from.
<iframe title="How wildlife trade is linked to coronavirus" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPpoJGYlW54?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This report has been updated to include additional information.

Daily Life In Beijing Amid Coronavirus

Senator Introduces Bill To Investigate China’s Coronavirus ‘Cover-Up,’ Demands China Pay For Damage

Those living in the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak will soon have some of their freedom back, as the Chinese province of Hubei will begin letting most residents leave their cities for the first time in two months.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-lockdown-lifted-intl-hnk/index.html">reported</a> that the lockdown on Wuhan, where the virus originated, will be lifted on April 8 as government officials in the province claimed new cases of coronavirus dropped significantly over the past five days – to just one new case on Tuesday. China, however, has shown that it is willing to lie and cover up its own role in the coronavirus outbreak, so one must be at least a little skeptical about whether or not new cases are not being confirmed in Wuhan.
Other cities in the Hubei providence will have their lockdown lifted on Wednesday, March 25. As The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/world/asia/china-coronavirus-lockdown-hubei.html">reported</a>, most of Hubei’s 60 million residents will be able to travel more than they have been, but that does not mean things will go back to normal for the citizens.
“Hubei officials, in announcing the lifting of restrictions, acknowledged that normalcy was still not yet at hand. Schools will remain closed until a ‘scientific assessment’ determines when they can safely reopen, the announcement said. Local officials should also be careful not to let a surge in travel cause a new wave of infections, it said,” the Times reported. “There will also be limits on who is allowed to travel: Those seeking to leave Hubei must have a ‘green’ health code from the local authorities, certifying that they are healthy. The Chinese government has been classifying citizens’ health risks <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/china-coronavirus-surveillance.html">using technology on their smartphones</a>.”
NBC reported that residents can obtain a green, yellow, or red health code, depending on their symptoms.
“The colors are assigned according to the provincial epidemic control database: people who have been diagnosed as confirmed, suspected or asymptomatic cases, or people with a fever will receive the red color code; their close contacts will receive the yellow code; and people without any record in the database will get the green code &#8212; meaning they&#8217;re healthy and safe to travel,” the outlet reported.
Hubei officials encouraged production to restart to “work hard to minimize the losses caused by the epidemic, and regain normal economic and social development of the province as soon as possible.”
Hubei “has accounted for the majority of infections and deaths in China, with 67,801 cases and 3,160 fatalities reported as of Monday,” CNN reported.
Wuhan, which is home to 11 million people, has been on lockdown since January 23, with all entrances and forms of travel blocked to and from the city.
A doctor in the province told the Agence France-Presse that the region is “celebrating today” after the announcement.
“Every day, we saw the number of seriously ill patients decreasing, the situation improving, people being discharged from the hospital. The doctors and nurses are becoming more and more relaxed as the days go by. I am super happy!” she said.

China Is About To Lift Its Lockdown Of Wuhan, Where The Coronavirus Originated

You&#8217;ve heard the conspiracy theories: The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 now sweeping the world was created in a lab in Wuhan, China.
&#8220;Don’t buy China’s story: The coronavirus may have leaked from a lab,&#8221; The <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/02/22/dont-buy-chinas-story-the-coronavirus-may-have-leaked-from-a-lab/">New York Post</a> wrote back on Feb. 11.
The story says Chinese leader Xi Jinping &#8220;didn’t actually admit that the coronavirus now devastating large swaths of China had escaped from one of the country’s bioresearch labs. But the very next day, evidence emerged suggesting that this is exactly what happened, as the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology released a new directive titled: &#8216;Instructions on strengthening biosecurity management in microbiology labs that handle advanced viruses like the novel coronavirus.&#8217; &#8230;
<blockquote>It turns out that in all of China, there is only one. And this one is located in the Chinese city of Wuhan that just happens to be … the epicenter of the epidemic. That’s right. China’s only Level 4 microbiology lab that is equipped to handle deadly coronaviruses, called the National Biosafety Laboratory, is part of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.</blockquote>
That rumor spread even more quickly than the virus itself.
But a new analysis of SARS-CoV-2 should end that conspiracy theory, a group of researchers say. They compared the genome of the new coronavirus with the seven other coronaviruses known to infect humans and drew a clear conclusion: &#8220;Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus,&#8221; they wrote in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9">Nature Medicine</a>.
The researchers compared SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2, HKU1, NL63, OC43 and 229E and compared the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and how it binds with receptors called ACE-2 (to be highly technical, ACE-2 is a type I transmembrane metallocarboxypeptidase with homology to ACE).
&#8220;The RBD of SARS-CoV-2 is optimized for binding to human ACE2 with an efficient solution different from those previously predicted. Furthermore, if genetic manipulation had been performed, one of the several reverse-genetic systems available for betacoronaviruses would probably have been used. However, the genetic data irrefutably show that SARS-CoV-2 is not derived from any previously used virus backbone,&#8221; the researchers wrote.
Instead, they offer two scenarios that can explain the origin of SARS-CoV-2: &#8220;natural selection in an animal host before zoonotic transfer; and &#8230; natural selection in humans following zoonotic transfer.&#8221;
<blockquote>As many early cases of COVID-19 were linked to the Huanan market in Wuhan, it is possible that an animal source was present at this location. Given the similarity of SARS-CoV-2 to bat SARS-CoV-like coronaviruses<a id="ref-link-section-d33306e647" title="Wu, F. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2008-3 (2020)." href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9#ref-CR2" data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 2">2</a>, it is likely that bats serve as reservoir hosts for its progenitor. Although RaTG13, sampled from a Rhinolophus affinis bat, is ~96% identical overall to SARS-CoV-2, its spike diverges in the RBD, which suggests that it may not bind efficiently to human ACE2. &#8230;
It is possible that a progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 jumped into humans, acquiring the genomic features described above through adaptation during undetected human-to-human transmission. Once acquired, these adaptations would enable the pandemic to take off and produce a sufficiently large cluster of cases to trigger the surveillance system that detected it.</blockquote>
&#8220;The overall molecular structure of this virus is distinct from the known coronaviruses and instead most closely resembles viruses found in bats and pangolins that had been little studied and never known to cause humans any harm,&#8221; the researchers write.
&#8220;If someone were seeking to engineer a new coronavirus as a pathogen, they would have constructed it from the backbone of a virus known to cause illness,&#8221; according to a statement from <a href="https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2020/20200317-andersen-covid-19-coronavirus.html">Scripps Research</a>. &#8221; If someone were seeking to engineer a new coronavirus as a pathogen, they would have constructed it from the backbone of a virus known to cause illness. But the scientists found that the SARS-CoV-2 backbone differed substantially from those of already known coronaviruses and mostly resembled related viruses found in bats and pangolins.&#8221;
“These two features of the virus, the mutations in the RBD portion of the spike protein and its distinct backbone, rules out laboratory manipulation as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2,&#8221; said Kristian Andersen, an associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research and corresponding author on the paper.
&nbsp;

Coronavirus, Tem

Here’s How Scientists Know Coronavirus Was NOT Cooked Up In A Lab

Stanford biophysicist and Nobel laureate Michael Levitt says that based on how the COVID-19 crisis has played out in multiple countries, the threat is less severe than the media has portrayed it to be and might be over sooner than most think. &#8220;The real situation is not as nearly as terrible as they make it out to be,&#8221; Levitt says, and, in the end, &#8220;we&#8217;re going to be fine.&#8221;
Levitt, who accurately predicted the slowdown of coronavirus cases in China, has been making the rounds with various media outlets to discuss his findings on the most recent data from nearly 80 countries involving the global pandemic. Like several other <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prevention-expert-data-suggests-our-fight-against-coronavirus-may-be-worse-than-the-disease">experts</a>, Levitt maintains that the threat of COVID-19 is less severe than many reports make it appear.
In a report published by the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-03-22/coronavirus-outbreak-nobel-laureate">Los Angeles Times</a> on Sunday, Levitt assured the public that the world, and the U.S., are going to survive COVID-19, and that, as has occurred in countries first hit by the pandemic, the cases of the virus will begin to decline more rapidly than some are projecting.
Levitt, the L.A. Times&#8217; Joe Mozingo notes, &#8220;correctly calculated that China would get through the worst of its coronavirus outbreak long before many health experts had predicted&#8221; and now &#8220;foresees a similar outcome in the United States and the rest of the world.&#8221;
In a report published on February 1, Levitt predicted with remarkable accuracy how China&#8217;s cases would end up, saying that around 80,000 would contract the disease and among those around 3,250 would die. Mozingo notes that as of March 16, China, which has nearly 1.4 billion people, reported a total of just 80,298 cases and 3,245 deaths related to the virus and the number of new cases has slowed down to around 25 per day.
Levitt says that after studying data from 78 countries, he sees a similar pattern. As occurred in China in February, the rate of case increases will begin to decline, signaling the downside of a spread curve. “What we need is to control the panic,” Levitt told the paper.
The important metric, Levitt explained, is the number of new cases, not the total number of cases. The new cases data allows one to see more clearly the rate of spread. He also stressed that only when the virus is not being detected will it spread &#8220;exponentially.&#8221; When countries are testing and responding aggressively, the growth rate tends to decrease significantly.
Levitt made clear that he generally agrees with the government imposed social-distancing measures as a way to help curb the spread, for now, but also suggests that fears are overblown in large part because of the media focusing on the total number of cases and on famous figures being infected.
The flu, notes Mozingo has infected 36 million Americans in just over 6 months and killed around 22,000. The total COVID-19 infections in the U.S. is currently just over 40,000 and the total number of deaths connected to infection around 500.
Levitt, Mozingo writes, &#8220;fears the public health measures that have shut down large swaths of the economy could cause their own health catastrophe, as lost jobs lead to poverty and hopelessness,&#8221; circumstances in the past which have proven to result in increases in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-recession-suicide-prevent-20140611-story.html">suicide</a>, among other tragedies.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-who-predicted-china-slowdown-italy-nearing-slowdown-israel-will-have-10-deaths-max-from-coronavirus">The Daily Wire</a> noted, Levitt offered a similar message to <a href="https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3800632,00.html">Calcalist</a> two weeks ago, underscoring the importance of populations and governments not allowing &#8220;panic&#8221; to determine their response to the pandemic and stressing that &#8220;most people will remain healthy and humanity will survive.&#8221;
&#8220;[T]here are years when flu is raging, like in the U.S. in 2017, when there were three times the regular number of mortalities,&#8221; said Levitt. &#8220;And still, we did not panic. That is my message: you need to think of corona like a severe flu. It is four to eight times as strong as a common flu, and yet, most people will remain healthy and humanity will survive.”
The concern about the U.S. he, said, is more about overwhelming the hospitals rather than the ultimate death toll. &#8220;Currently, I am most worried about the U.S. It must isolate as many people as possible to buy time for preparations,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Otherwise, it can end up in a situation where 20,000 infected people will descend on the nearest hospital at the same time and the healthcare system will collapse.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prevention-expert-data-suggests-our-fight-against-coronavirus-may-be-worse-than-the-disease">Prevention Expert: Data Shows Our Fight Against Coronavirus May Be Worse Than The Disease</a>

New York City

Nobel Laureate: Why Coronavirus Crisis May Be Over Sooner Than Many Think

Nobel Prize

Chinese state communist propaganda promoted a tweet from Democrat Hillary Clinton on Friday that contained misleading information about President Donald Trump&#8217;s response to the coronavirus, which originated in China.
&#8220;The president is turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously early on, make tests widely available, and adequately prepare the country for a period of crisis,&#8221; Clinton wrote on Twitter. &#8220;Don&#8217;t fall for it. Don&#8217;t let your friends and family fall for it.&#8221;
Chinese state media took a screenshot of Clinton&#8217;s tweet and wrote: &#8220;Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday critiqued President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent usage of &#8216;Chinese Virus&#8217; to refer to the #COVID19 as &#8216;racist rhetoric,&#8217; which is an attempt to eclipse his poor response in curbing the virus outbreak.&#8221;
Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian promoted the tweet, writing, &#8220;It is true. Justice always speak loudly.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It is true. Justice always speak loudly. <a href="https://t.co/kZjcYccFPg">https://t.co/kZjcYccFPg</a>
&mdash; Chinese Ambassador to South Africa (@AmbLINSongtian) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmbLINSongtian/status/1240957900962611202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Clinton&#8217;s claim that Trump did not take the coronavirus seriously early on is an opinion and not a fact.
The Associated Press <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/timeline-trump-administration-s-response-coronavirus-n1162206">reported</a> on December 31 that China was investigating the outbreak of a new pneumonia-like illness that broke out in Wuhan.
On January 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans to be careful if they were traveling to China. The next day the CDC activated a system to track cases of the coronavirus.
On January 20, the U.S. reported its first case of the coronavirus in Washington State, and three days later China quarantined the entire city of Wuhan.
Trump announced the creation of a task force to combat the coronavirus before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a “public health emergency of international concern.”
At the very end of January, Trump banned travel from foreign nationals who had been to China within the past 14 days.
Clinton&#8217;s claim that Trump has not made testing widely available is also misleading.
Trump <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/488342-trump-signs-coronavirus-aid-package-with-paid-sick-leave-free-testing">signed</a> a bill into law – an emergency aid package that gave free coronavirus testing to anyone who needed it.
Doctor Scott Gottlieb highlighted on Saturday that LabCorp, a U.S. medical diagnostic testing firm, announced that it now has the ability to perform more than 20,000 tests per day.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
LabCorp says it&#39;s now able to perform more than 20,000 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> tests per day. The public health minded people of that company, and their CEO Adam H Schechter, should be applauded for what they accomplished in record time. <a href="https://t.co/llt785x1sx">https://t.co/llt785x1sx</a>
&mdash; Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1241431740465516544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Also, referring to the coronavirus by a name that specifies its geographic origin is not racist as numerous diseases have been named after where they were first discovered.
Trump even explained that the reason he started to call the coronavirus the &#8220;Chinese virus&#8221; was because China&#8217;s communist government began promoting false conspiracy theories that the U.S. military was responsible for the outbreak in China.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;It comes from China&#8230; it&#39;s not racist,&quot; President Trump when an ABC News reporter asked: &quot;Why do you keep calling this the Chinese Virus?&quot;<a href="https://t.co/os9y8ey6Ac">pic.twitter.com/os9y8ey6Ac</a>
&mdash; Nathan Brand (@NathanBrandWA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NathanBrandWA/status/1240319583350935562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The American Council on Science and Health <a href="https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/03/09/msnbcs-david-gura-thinks-all-microbiologists-are-racists-14624">reported</a> earlier this month that “historically, microbiologists named new diseases after locations, animals or people”:
<blockquote>Historically, microbiologists named new diseases after locations, animals or people. To this day, flu strains are named after the city in which they were first isolated.
…
There’s another problem with accusing the name “Wuhan virus” of being racist. All influenza strains are named after the location in which they were first isolated.
This isn’t done because of racism. It’s done because it helps epidemiologists track the viruses. Once again, things could get awfully confusing if influenza strains were named “Flu #3296” and “Flu #9114.”
As usual, America’s pathological obsession with racism misfires again.</blockquote>
Numerous diseases have been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ocasio-cortez-people-not-going-to-asian-restaurants-because-theyre-racist-about-coronavirus">named</a> after their place of origin, including:
<ul>
<li>Guinea Worm; named after the Guinea coast of West Africa.</li>
<li>West Nile Virus; named after the river in Africa.</li>
<li>Ross River Fever; named after a river in Australia.</li>
<li>MERS; stands for Middle East respiratory syndrome.</li>
<li>Ebola; named for a river in Africa.</li>
<li>Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever; named after Omsk, Russia.</li>
<li>Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, named after a mountain range in the U.S.</li>
<li>Lyme Disease; named after a town in Connecticut.</li>
</ul>

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