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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been conducting a “mask diplomacy.” It is making itself a world leader by supplying “friendly” countries with medical supplies. However, the poor quality of the products and sometimes even the fake products that China has provided to the world has caused its attempt to backfire.

On March 27, Fahrettin Koca, Turkey’s Health Minister said that China’s testing kits were only 30 to 35 percent accurate; Turkey could not put the kits in use.

On March 28, Maria Rosario Vergeire, the Philippine’s Deputy Health Minister stated at a news conference that some China-made coronavirus testing kits were only 40 percent accurate. The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines announced the next day that, after verification, China’s testing kits did not have a quality problem. Vergeire said that it was another Chinese brand, which a private foundation had donated, that had quality problems.

Malaysian officials said that, to avoid falling into the same trap as Spain (bought Chinese medical supplies but found out later that they couldn’t be used due to severe quality problems), they would not order from China.

Global News reported that Chinese-made “N95” respiratory masks, which were a counterfeit copy of the Valpro Ranger brand, were advertised on the Midas Safety country websites in China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, as well as on the Valpro Safety website in the United Arab Emirates. Midas Safety said the masks were mistakenly placed on the websites by a web administrator and subsequently removed from the websites after they were informed about it being a fake product.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• “World Leader”: Netherlands Found China’s Face Masks Defected
• “World Leader”: Spain Found 70% Error Rate of China’s Coronavirus Testing Kits
• “World Leader”: The Coronanivus Testing Kits Czeck Republic Bought from China Have 80% Error Rate

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From March 29 to April 1, Xi Jinping visited Zhejiang Province, his home base before he rose to power. From 2002 to 2007, before he became the Shanghai Party Chief and then moved to the CCP Central Committee, Xi was the Zhejiang Provincial Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Secretary. Many Zhejiang officials were later promoted and they were called the “Zhejiang New Army” (之江新军) for Xi.

Xinhua gave a lengthy report about Xi’s visit with many pictures to describe his trip and the places he visited. In the later part of the report, it outlined the directions that Xi gave on the future work. It can be summarized in two areas:

1. Pandemic prevention and control – stress is to be placed against external imported cases: “China faces a significant increase in the risk of pandemic imports from overseas. (We) must firmly adhere to externally defending against imported infections and internally defend against infection recurrence. … In particular, we must increase the management of asymptomatic infections. …  We must take strict preventative measures against overseas pandemic imports as the top priority of current and long-term pandemic prevention and control, strengthen the relevance and effectiveness of prevention and control measures, and build a solid line of defense against the risks of overseas pandemic imports.
2. The economy – stress taking the opportunity to develop the economy: “Crises and opportunities exist together. Overcoming the crises will present opportunities to us. The global wide spread of the coronavirus has severely impacted international economic and trade activities. (We) should, under the precondition of taking care of pandemic prevention, orderly and effectively speed up the resuming of production and business. … (We) should seize the opportunities of digitization, accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers, and step up the deployment of strategic emerging industries and future industries such as the digital economy, life health, and new materials, strengthen new growth points and form new momentum for development.”

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: Li Keqiang Warned the Coronavirus Risk in China and Asked to Manage the Asymptomatic Carriers
• Leadership: Li Keqiang Asked Officials Not to Hide Data and Prepare for a Long-Lasting Work
• Leadership: The Widespread of a WeChat Posting Calling for Politburo Meeting to Remove Xi Jinping
• Leadership: Beijing May Hold “Lianghui” (“The Two Conferences”) in Late April or Early May
• Leadership – Xi Jinping’s Fake Wuhan Show

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After Li Keqiang instructed on March 30 that the asymptomatic carriers (those carriers who show no symptoms) be monitored and inspected, China’s State Council announced that it will publish the number of asymptomatic carriers daily.

The National Health Commission reported that, by March 30, there were 1,541 asymptomatic carriers under medical observation in China. The total number of infection cases under treatment was 2,161.

As of 10:49 a.m. on April 3, 2020, the officially released asymptomatic carriers count on QQ’s website was 1,027.

Earlier, the South China Morning Post reported that there were more than 43,000 people in China who had tested positive for the coronavirus by the end of February but who had no immediate symptoms. They were placed in quarantine and monitored but were not included in the official tally of confirmed cases, which stood at about 80,000 at the time.

Oriental Daily also reported that Zhang Wenhong, the head of Shanghai Pneumonia Medical Treatment Expert Group, said that among the over 100 imported infection cases in Shanghai, there were more and more asymptomatic carriers. The coronavirus can survive in human bodies for more than three weeks and can present a great spreading risk.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: Li Keqiang Warned the Coronavirus Risk in China and Asked to Manage the Asymptomatic Carriers
• Leadership: Li Keqiang Asked Officials Not to Hide Data and Prepare for a Long-Lasting Work
• Infection Count: China Does Not Count Patients Who Became Negative But Then Positive Again
• Infection Count: Hubei Was Unlocked, But Beijing Does not Want Anyone from Hubei to Come
• Infection Count: 60 Percent Hidden Infection Cases in Wuhan Are Not Reported

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By controlling the reporting of infection numbers, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has portrayed China as having come out of the coronavirus outbreak. However, on March 30, Li Keqiang delivered a different message.

Xinhua reported that, on March 30, Li Keqiang hosted a Central Novel Coronavirus Epidemic Prevention and Control Leading Group meeting. Li is the Chairman of the group. Wang Huning, another Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of the CCP’s propaganda and the Vice Chair of the Leading group, also attended the meeting.

Li stated that no country can keep itself clean while the pandemic is widely spreading in the world. People should have a clear head and fully understand the risk and challenge of China’s pandemic prevention.

Li stressed again that the local government must publish transparent information and is absolutely prohibited from hiding or under-reporting infection counts to pursue a “zero” result. (Li made a similar statement at the March 23 meeting. See Chinascope posting: Leadership: Li Keqiang Asked Officials Not to Hide Data and Prepare for Long-Lasting Work)

Li also asked that the efforts be increased to monitor and inspect the asymptomatic carriers. Once found, those people must be transferred immediately to a centralized location for quarantine and medical care.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: Li Keqiang Asked Officials Not to Hide Data and Prepare for a Long-Lasting Work
• Leadership: The Widespread of a WeChat Posting Calling for Politburo Meeting to Remove Xi Jinping
• Leadership: Beijing May Hold “Lianghui” (“The Two Conferences”) in Late April or Early May
• Leadership – Xi Jinping’s Fake Wuhan Show
• Leadership: Political Signs of Xi Jinping’s Visiting to Wuhan

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While the Chinese Communist Party portrayed itself as having come out of the novel coronavirus outbreak, National Public Radio (NPR) reported that some Wuhan residents who had tested positive earlier and then recovered from the coronavirus are testing positive for the virus a second time. Based on data from several quarantine facilities in Wuhan, about 5 to 10 percent of patients pronounced “recovered” have tested positive again.

Some of those who retested positive appear to be asymptomatic carriers — those who carry the virus and are possibly infectious but do not exhibit any of the illness’s associated symptoms. NPR warned that the outbreak in Wuhan is not close to being over.

However, these second-time positive patients are not included in China’s infection count.

Hubei Daily reported on March 23, that Tu Yuan, Deputy Director of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission, told news reporters that, since these patients had been reported when they were confirmed the first time, they would not be reported again as new confirmed cases, to avoid duplicate counting.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Infection Count: Hubei Was Unlocked, But Beijing Does not Want Anyone from Hubei to Come
• Infection Count: 60 Percent Hidden Infection Cases in Wuhan Are Not Reported
• Infection Count: Cured Patients Tested COVID-19 Positive Again
• Infection Count: Zhang Wenhong Worried about Shanghai’s Confirmed Infection Count Being Zero
• Infection Count: Shandong Internal Report Had Much Higher Infection Counts Than the Published Numbers

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On March 29, China’s Central Television (CCTV) released a commentary, titled, “As the U.S. Enters a Period of Major Catastrophe, Why Do Pompeo and Alike ‘Loot a Burning House’?”

The commentary said, “As an anti-China ‘pioneer’ in the current U.S. government, Pompeo’s performance after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus was extremely despicable. From publicly calling the virus the ‘Wuhan Virus’ many times, to slandering the Chinese Communist Party and the China’s political system as a ‘threat of the times,’ to trying to include ‘Wuhan Virus’ in the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Statement, Pompeo has used various domestic and foreign situations to stigmatize China and spread the ‘conspiracy theory’ (against China). He has stunned the world with his Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, which has severely disrupted the current cooperation on global pandemic prevention.”

It stated that despite the U.S. Leader showing an active attitude to cooperate with China, Pompeo’s insisting on blocking the cooperation showed that he had a hidden agenda. He was preparing to step up further (running for President) in the future.

“It is a shame for the United States to let such a low-quality politician take the helm of American diplomacy. Pompeo is undoubtedly the ‘most lame’ compared to those Secretaries of State in U.S. history. At present, the United States epidemic prevention is entering a period of ‘major catastrophe.’ If Pompeo is allowed to use private political interests to abduct American society and public interests, the U.S. will pay a high price for this and will go further and further down the road of isolation.”

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Propaganda and Lies: People’s Daily Commentary: “Must Resist the Poison of Stigmatization”
• Propaganda and Lies: Geng Shuang, A Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Said U.S. “Stigmatizes” China
• Propaganda and Lies: China’s Propaganda Machine Spread Zhao Lijian’s Accusation of the U.S.
• Propaganda and Lies: President Trump Responded to China’s Accusation
• Propaganda and Lies: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Said Virus Was From the US

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People have been questioning Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) for being too close to and too supportive of the Chinese Communist Party on the issue of the coronavirus outbreak.

#1: U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced a resolution, calling on Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO, to retract “highly misleading statements of support for the response of the Government of the People’s Republic of China.”

On March 19, 2020, Dr. Ghebreyesus tweeted: “For the first time, #China has reported no domestic #COVID19 cases yesterday. This is an amazing achievement, which gives us all reassurance that the #coronavirus can be beaten.”

The lawmakers also flagged comments he made in January, praising the China’s commitment and “transparency.”

“We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus,” Ghebreyesus said. “WHO is working closely with the government on measures to understand the virus and limit transmission. WHO will keep working side-by-side with China and all other countries to protect health and keep people safe.”

#2: The National Interest reported that back in 2017, a group of American doctors accused Ghebreyesus of failing to investigate outbreaks of cholera in Sudan, which neighbors Ethiopia. Sudanese leaders classified the outbreak as “acute watery diarrhea” rather than cholera, which is caused by a bacteria found in unsanitary drinking water.

The doctors wrote in a letter to Ghebreyesus: “Your silence about what is clearly a massive cholera epidemic in Sudan daily becomes more reprehensible. The inevitable history that will be written on this epidemic will surely cast you in an unforgiving light.” They said that Ghebreyesus was “fully complicit in the terrible suffering and dying that continues to spread.”

#3: A petition, titled “Call for the resignation of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General” was posted on change.org. 680,165 people had signed by end of 3/31/2020 (US Eastern Time).

Related posting on Chinascope:

• WHO: Official Went to Wuhan but Didn’t Go to “Dirty Area”

Sources:

1. Fox, March 28, 2020
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lawmakers-who-chief-to-retract-pro-china-comments-coronavirus

2. Twitter

For the first time, #China has reported no domestic #COVID19 cases yesterday. This is an amazing achievement, which gives us all reassurance that the #coronavirus can be beaten. https://t.co/py3Ka2cbLK

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 20, 2020

3. National Interest, March 24, 2020
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/fully-complicit-terrible-suffering-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-blamed-2017-cholera

4. Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-call-for-the-resignation-of-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-who-director-general?signed=true

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by artificially reporting zero or near zero infection counts, has been able to portray itself as having gotten the coronavirus under control. However, Li Keqiang, China’s Premier, gave a different voice. He asked officials not to hide the data about the infection and to prepare for a long-lasting fight with the pandemic.

Li made these statements on March 23 at a meeting of the Central Committee’s Novel Coronavirus Epidemic Prevention and Control Leading Group, of which he is the head.

Li said, “Being open and transparent means to report every case, whenever each government finds one. It is what it is. Do not hide or under-report cases.”

Li also said that epidemiology experts, both Chinese and overseas, have established various models to predict the pandemic’s trend. The general belief is that the pandemic is unlikely to disappear suddenly like SARS did. Therefore, people must be prepared for more arduous and lasting epidemic prevention and control work.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: The Widespread of a WeChat Posting Calling for Politburo Meeting to Remove Xi Jinping
• Leadership: Beijing May Hold “Lianghui” (“The Two Conferences”) in Late April or Early May
• Leadership – Xi Jinping’s Fake Wuhan Show
• Leadership: Political Signs of Xi Jinping’s Visiting to Wuhan
• Leadership: The CCP Was Forced to Reverse the “Be Grateful to the CCP” Education

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