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Virus Origin: Beijing Stressed Bio Lab Safety in December 2019 and January 2020

In December 2019 and January 2020, Epoch Times obtained multiple official documents from Beijing City and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (AR), regarding the management of bio labs.

1. December 31, 2019: The Inner Mongolia Health Commission issued the “Emergency Notice from the Inner Mongolia AR Health Commission on Effectively Strengthening the Biosafety Management of Pathogenic Microbiology Laboratories on Human Infectious Diseases.” The notice was marked “Urgent.” The notice stated that the health administrative departments and relevant units at all levels should take it as a “political positioning” issue. The health administrative departments at all levels should conduct early detection, immediate verification, prompt reporting, and proper handling of possible emergencies. The notice asked subordinate health commissions to register the first and second classes of pathogenic microbiology laboratories and conduct regular systematic reviews of those labs.

2. January 3, 2020: The General Office of the National Health Commission issued a not-to-release-to-public “Notice of the General Office of the National Health Commission on Strengthening the Management of Biological Sample Resources and Related Research Activities in the Prevention and Control of Major Emergent Infectious Diseases.” In this notice, “biological samples” was defined as blood, pharyngeal swabs, sputum, tracheal aspiration or bronchial lavage fluid, urine, and feces of patients, suspected patients, and their close contacts. The notice prohibits all institutions and individuals from publishing information about pathogen detection and experimental activities on their own.

3. January 14, 2020: The Health Commission of the Changping District, Beijing issued a not-to-release-to-public “Notice on Conducting Special Supervision and Inspection of Pathogen Microbiology Laboratories.” The notice requires good handling in the collection, transportation, use, and scientific research management of biological sample resources. It asked the first, second, and third classes of biosafety laboratories to conduct self-inspection on January 15 and 16. Another document, “Changping District Pathogen Microbiology Laboratory Biosafety Supervision Checklist” provides a set of procedures for the reception and storage of viruses.

4. January 16, 2020: The Scientific Discipline Education Division of the Beijing Hospital Management Center issued the “Emergency Notice on the Mutual Inspection of Laboratory Biosafety in Municipal Hospitals.” The notice said that the Beijing Hospital Management Center would organize a mutual biosafety inspection of 22 hospital laboratories in the city from January 17 to 21.

5. January 16, 2020: The Science and Technology Education Department of the Beijing Health Commission issued the “Notice of the Beijing Health Commission on Holding Laboratory Biosafety Training.”

6. January 16, 2020: The National Health Commission issued the “Notice of the General Office of the National Health Commission on Printing and Distributing Biosafety Guidelines for Novel Coronavirus Laboratories.” The notice was marked “urgent” and “not to be released to the public.” It emphasized “for internal use only and not allowed to be spread on the Internet.” The notice provided detailed regulations on how to extract nucleic acids from viral cultures, conduct animal infection experiments, and handle uncultivated infectious materials.

7. February 14, 2020: At a meeting of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping mentioned “Biosecurity” five times and asked “to incorporate biosecurity into the national security system and to publish the ‘Biosecurity Law’ as soon as possible.”

8. From April 26 to 29, 2020: The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress discussed “The Draft of the Biosecurity Law.”

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Virus Origin: China Sent Confusing Messages on Investigation of Virus Origin in China

The U.S., the European Union, and Australia are demanding an investigation into how the coronavirus started in Wuhan. In the past, China has refused the request. However, on May 6, Chinese officials sent different messages on whether Beijing would offer to cooperate with such an investigation.

#1: At the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Press Conference on May 6, when asked when China would invite the World Health Organization (WHO) to conduct such an investigation, Hua Chunying stated, “Regarding this kind of scientific investigation and study, we, of course, hold an open attitude and are willing to continue close cooperation with the WHO… We are willing to, in addition, work with the international community on fighting the pandemic, and support the review and summarization of the pandemic situation at an appropriate time…”

Hua also criticized the U.S. for presuming China was guilty and using the investigation to play political games. (China’s Foreign Ministry Website)

#2: Chen Xu, China’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said on May 6 that, as long as the coronavirus is spreading and as long as the U.S. is still accusing Beijing, China will reject any international scientists’ requests to investigate the origin of the virus. When asked when China will invite the WHO to conduct an investigation, Chen said, “We cannot tolerate the free spread of such a ‘political virus’ (referring to the U.S. stating the virus came from the Wuhan Lab of Virology).” As for the invitation to the WHO, Chen said that, on one hand, Beijing must decide what the high priority (items) are and, on the other hand, Beijing needs a good environment. (Radio France International)

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Connected to the CCP: Australian Billionaire Lost 900 Million Dollars for Supporting the CCP

Forbes reported that Australian Billionaire Andrew Forrest openly supported the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the coronavirus period and, as a result, saw his fortune shrink by close to $900 million.

During the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. and Australian governments demanded an investigation into how the virus started in Wuhan. However, Forrest defended China’s alleged role in concealing the possible cause of the virus outbreak.

Even the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said Forrest’s comments about the virus possibly originating outside China were nonsense. Morrison said, “I don’t think anybody is in any fantasyland about where it started. It started in China.”

Forrest also invited the Chinese consul-general in the State of Victoria, Long Zhou, to speak at a media conference organized by the Australian Health Minister, Greg Hunt. The Australian, a national morning newspaper, published a critical editorial on Long Zhou’s gate-crashing the Minister’s event at Forrest’s invitation. It stated, “Business must not dictate the nation’s foreign policy.”

A prominent radio talk show host, Alan Jones, described Forrest as a “Beijing propaganda sock puppet.”

Forrest’s wealth, estimated by Forbes at $8.8 billion, is based largely on a 30 percent stake in the iron ore mining company, Fortescue Metals, which sells most of its ore to Chinese steel mills.

The effect on the stock market of Forrest’s championing the CCP was severe. On May 4, while most mining companies suffered a price correction with leaders such as BHP and Rio Tinto down about 7 percent from their highs on April 30, Fortescue Metals fell 12 percent, resulting in Forrest losing about $900 million in his stake.

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Source: Forbes, May 4, 2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timtreadgold/2020/05/04/china-friendship-costs-andrew-forrest-900-million-in-a-week/#7f1ba9f010a1

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Public Opinion: An Open Letter with Fifteen Questions Challenging the Current Top Leader

After China announced it would hold the National People’s Congress and the National Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in late May, an open letter written in Chinese, addressed to the representatives of the two conferences was widely spread on the Internet. The letter posed 15 questions, mainly against Xi Jinping, though it did not call out his name.

It was said that Deng Pufang, son of China’s former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, wrote this letter. (However, in Chinascope’s view, this is unlikely since, if Deng Pufang indeed wanted to challenge Xi, he could do it in many other ways that demonstrate more political savvy than an open letter that everyone sees.) However, the letter is worth reading as it shows public sentiment against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its leader. The following are the 15 questions:

  1. As representatives of the two conferences, is it more important to protect the interests of our country and people, or to protect the power of a certain authoritarian?
  2. The Constitution clearly stipulates that the representatives of the two conferences have the right to supervise and correct the wrong decisions of CCP Central. However, a few years ago, CCP Central created a “crime of baseless comments” (for someone who criticizes the top leader or CCP Central) and this year it created a “crime of showing no respect.” What is the value of the representatives of the two conferences then?
  3. The authorities want to “settle questions by THE ONE” (this is a phrase that Xi’s supporters use to state following Xi’s direction). Is “THE ONE” an Emperor who inherited his power from his family, or a publicly elected President, or the CCP General Secretary based on all party member’s votes? Since it is none of these, why he is “THE ONE”?
  4. If party member criticizes the mistakes made by the central leaders, they are “making baseless comments.” If the public does that, they are “stirring up the subversion of the government.” To whom does our country belong?
  5. The Wuhan pneumonia has spread to the whole world. Did the central government delay the prevention and control of this virus? Did it hide information from the public? Should we provide an explanation to the world? Who should bear the responsibility for allowing the pandemic to get out of control?
  6. The relations between China and the United States continue to deteriorate. What responsibilities should the top leader bear?
  7. The turmoil in Hong Kong has lasted for almost a year. Who has destroyed Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” structure? What responsibilities should the top leader assume?
  8. The “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” irrationally invests money based on the central leaders’ own preferences, without the approval from the National People’s Congress and without consideration for the national economy and people’s livelihood. What kind of behavior is this? Now this program is about to be aborted. Who should bear the responsibility?
  9. Without the approval of the National People’s Congress and without expert’s study, the central leaders decided to invest trillions of yuan to build a Xiong’an New District (next to Beijing) based on a few people’s suggestions. Now that the project has been aborted, who should bear the responsibility?
  10. Why did Taiwan drift away from the mainland? What responsibility should the central leaders assume?
  11. A large number of foreign companies have withdrawn from China, a large number of Chinese private enterprises have closed down, and a large number of workers have lost their jobs. Does this have anything to do with the central leaders’ wrong decision? If so, who should bear the responsibility?
  12. What kind of behavior is it for the current top leader to use his power to amend the Constitution by removing the limit that a person can only serve the top leader position for at most two terms? If anyone with power can create law on his own, what is the use of the national Constitution?
  13. CCP Central has decided to re-adopt the planned economy model that the world has long abandoned. Is this decision coming from the consideration of strengthening someone’s personal power or of the interests of the country and the people?
  14. In recent years, China’s international image has plummeted and national credit has been totally lost. Who should bear this responsibility?
  15. In order to prevent the retired senior comrades from proposing a collective motion to call for an expanded CCP Politburo meeting, the CCP Central sent military police to provide “special protection” to retired senior comrades and current high-ranking officials of the party, government, and military. The “special protection” is actually to restrict their communications, freedom of movement, and guest visits. What kind of behavior is this? Who gave him this power? (See Chinascope posting: Leadership: The Widespread of a WeChat Posting Calling for Politburo Meeting to Remove Xi Jinping and Leadership: Fu Zhenghua Removed from the Deputy Party Secretary Position of the Ministry of Justice)

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Leadership: An Internet Posting That Defended Xi Jinping

In the past couple of months, there have been criticisms of Xi Jinping, including Ren Zhiqiang calling him “a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing to be an emperor.” (See Chinascope posting: Leadership: Ren Zhiqiang’s Article: “A Clown Who Stripped Naked and Insisted on Continuing to Be an Emperor”) and an Internet posting calling for an “Emergency Enlarged Meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Politburo” to “discuss whether Xi Jinping is suitable to continue to be the President of the country, the CCP’s General Secretary, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission” (See Chinascope posting: Leadership: The Widespread of a WeChat Posting Calling for Politburo Meeting to Remove Xi Jinping).

Recently, a posting that was claimed to be written by Xi Jinping’s brother, Xi Yuanping, spread on the Internet. The article defended Xi Jinping. It is doubtful that Xi Yuanping wrote the article, but it offers interesting reading on how someone could justify Xi’s actions. The following are excerpts from the posting:

I don’t want to defend my brother but I want you to understand how difficult it is to manage such a big country. He works around the clock, without any selfish thoughts. Even his most criticized action of removing the President’s two-term limitation was not for himself but rather for the stability of the country… My brother said privately, to be the top leader of the CCP, one must first be extremely “left” (holding the communist position), and then can he be extremely “right” (being open and liberal). Because being extremely “left” will allow him to establish a solid foothold in the party; after he has gained that foothold, he can start a thorough political reform… Some events that received public criticism were not based on his orders but from some other people’s digging holes for him. The handling (taking down) of a few people in the area of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (referring to Sun Lijun, Fu Zhenghua, and maybe a few other high-ranking officials), is to clean up that garbage…  This pandemic has damaged the economy, but also offers an opportunity to start political reform. In the future, the opening of the media, public elections of city and county officials, and making the judicial system semi-independent (from the CCP), will gradually happen.

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Public Opinion: “Four Things Not Anticipated”

A Chinese article titled, “Four Things Not Anticipated and Ten Points” was spread on the Internet recently. The article, commenting on how Beijing has misjudged the U.S., was said to be written by Dai Xu, a strategist with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

However, Dai Xu, a China’s military hawk, issued a statement on his Weibo account that he didn’t write this article. (#1, Weibo)

Later, Chinascope found that a copy of the article, said to be written by Ling A’feng, was posted on the Internet on July 15, 2018. (#2, CReaders)

The points in the article are worth reading though, as they show a moderate or liberal view from the Chinese side on U.S. and China relations. The following are highlights of the points from the article (#3, U.S.-China Perception Monitor):

As to the Sino-U.S. relations, there are a few things that the Chinese people did not anticipate that would happen:

  • The U.S. has such a big antagonism against China. The Chinese people never thought that the U.S. government would run its public relations machine at full strength, denouncing China to the maximum extent, describing China as the “trade hooligans” who should never be forgiven, and pushing the “China threat” theory to a new level.
  • The U.S. government has acted so ruthlessly, in such a short time frame, and given (China) no time to negotiate.
  • Not a single country has stood up to show sympathy and support for China.
  • The Republic Party and the Democratic Party in the U.S. have formed a united front (against China).

China must revise its understanding of the U.S.:

  1. Don’t assume that the U.S. is a “paper tiger” (a Chinese idiom for something that looks powerful from outside but is actually weak). On the contrary, the U.S. is a real tiger and can eat people.
  2. Don’t hope that the U.S. will forever make mistakes. It has a correction mechanism for its mistakes and will not forever carry the ‘political correctness’ policy.
  3. The U.S. does not pay serious attention to ideology and value systems; it only cares about economic and trade interests.
  4. Do not go to the U.S. to say it openly, “I want to surpass you and replace you; I want to be the world’s number one.”
  5. The U.S. is not afraid of offending someone. It has many allies, but it, for sure, will not sacrifice its own interests to please an ally.
  6. China should acknowledge that the U.S. is the “world’s number one.” Though it might be hard (for some Chinese) to accept it emotionally, but emotion cannot replace reality.
  7. Do not mention “sharing information” in front of the U.S. The U.S. is big on intellectual property. If you keep showing off your achievements obtained from “information sharing,” then you are a “technology thief” in the eyes of the U.S.
  8. The U.S. is a master at playing strategy games. Don’t let the Americans aim their strategies at you.
  9. Don’t hope that the Presidential election in the U.S. will change its national strategy.
  10. Don’t naively assume that you are fighting just the U.S. The U.S. has a lot of strategic allies. It represents universal values. If it acts, other countries will follow; even if some countries may not want to follow, eventually they will still line up with the U.S. Keep this in mind: if the U.S. increases 30 billion dollars in tariffs on you, (you will get) 60 billion, 90 billion, or even more tariffs (as other countries may follow suit).

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Treating People: CCP Abandons Chinese Citizens in Russia

When fighting the coronavirus, many countries make efforts to bring their citizens home from infected countries. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) refused to bring Chinese citizens in Russia home. The China’s Ambassador to Russia said about those Chinese who want to go back to China that they “have no moral bottom line.”

#1. According to China’s media, there are about 150,000 Chinese in Russia, with 27,000 students and others who are merchants and workers. However, the Chinese government has made it hard for them to return to China. First, the government cut its flights. Since March 26, each airline in China is only allowed to make one flight to a foreign country each week; foreign airlines are only allowed to make one flight to China each week. Second, China closed all checkpoints between China and Russia, including Suifenhe, the largest port city near Russia.

On the other hand, Russian authorities have treated Chinese toughly. Sputnik reported that on April 10, Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, announced that Moscow had deported several dozen Chinese for violating quarantine regulations. The Chinese media, 8 Am Health Insight reported on April 14, that a Chinese businesswoman who managed to return to China said that Russian authorities locked down the Friendship Hotel in Moscow where many Chinese were staying, took away their passports and quarantined them for 14 days.

China’s official media did not report on Russia’s actions, nor did Chinese officials defend its citizens. Nigeria acted differently. When the Chinese officials took away Nigerian citizens’ passports and tried to quarantine them, the Nigerian Consul-General in Guangzhou City fought to get back the passports and told the Chinese official that China had no right to seize them. (See Chinascope post: Diplomacy: Nigeria and African Union Protested China for Targeting Nigerian Citizens)

On April 17, Zhang Hanhui, China’s ambassador to Russia had an online discussion with several representatives of the Chinese in Russia. Zhang issued a criticism that some Chinese people tried to cross the border to go to China so as “to bring the virus into China.” Zhang said, “In order to escape responsibility, they claimed that ‘Russia will not let us stay.’ Their action is disgusting! (They are) eating the meal of Sino-Russian cooperation but smashing the pot of Sino-Russian relations. They have no moral bottom line.”

On April 13, the Heilongjiang government issued a notice to encourage people to report anyone who crossed the Sino-Russian border and offered a 3,000 yuan (US $430) reward for tips and 5,000 yuan for the arrest of anyone crossing the border. (See Chinascope post: Infection Count: Heilongjiang Awards 3,000 Yuan for Reporting People Crossing Border) (Epoch Times)

#2: Many Chinese in Russia indeed got infected. On April 20, China found 30 infected patients and 8 asymptomatic carriers on a flight from Moscow to Beijing. The flight landed in Xi’an first since China requires all international flights to Beijing to stop at another Chinese city first to be checked. (Beijing News)

#3: Heilongjiang Province decided to provide free room and board and a free coronavirus test to a Russian smuggler, who was arrested in Sunfenhe. However, the CCP requires all Chinese citizens returning to China from Russia to pay for their own expenses during the mandatory quarantine and does not offer them a free virus test. (Epoch Times)

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Infection Count: China Faces the Threat of Several Plagues

As China faces the threat of a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, it also faces several other plagues.

  1. The Decapod Iridescent Virus 1: This virus was detected in 2014. It is a highly contagious virus among shrimp and can also kill lobsters and crabs. It will not infect humans but there are concerns that the virus might mutate. On April 12, a Chinese magazine, the Fishing Frontline Magazine, reported that this virus was found in 11 provinces in China, mainly in the South, including Guangdong and Fujian. It can wipe out 60 percent of the shrimp in a pond. There is no effective treatment for this virus.
  2. African Horse Sickness Virus: On April 23, China’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Disease Control Center, and China Horse Industry Association jointly issued a notice to inform the local government to be vigilant about this virus. It said the death rate from this virus is 95 percent. China issued a warning about this horse virus back in May 2019. The virus hit Thailand in March of this year.
  3. The Black Death: According to an Inner Mongolia document, the black death plague was spreading in its area. (See Chinascope posting: Hiding Information: Inner Mongolia May Have Black Death Outbreak)
  4. The African Swine Fever Virus: This virus spread widely in China last year and caused the death of millions of pigs. Since March of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture has reported 13 epidemic cases in Hubei, Sichuan, and other provinces. On April 16, Jinmen (an island that belongs to Taiwan, only 2 km away from mainland China) found dead pigs, which had the swine fever virus, floating in the sea. This would mean that mainland farmers killed the infected pigs and threw them into the sea.
  5. Hepatitis A: In early March, over 100 people in Liaoning Province were infected with the Hepatitis A virus. The Paper reported that police had admonished several people who spread the infection news on the Internet, similar to what the Wuhan government did to people informing others about the coronavirus.
  6. Avian Influenza: On April 14, videos posted on the Internet showed that the Avian influenza was spreading in Juye County, Shandong Province. Tens of thousands of chickens died in 2.5 hours.

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