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Accountability: Australian Foreign Minister Rejected China’s “Economic Coercion” and Defended Australia’s Call for Investigating Virus Origin in China

#1: On April 22, Australian Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, at a virtual meeting of Agriculture Ministers of the G20, called for international experts to investigate the coronavirus origin and the wild animal markets in China which China said was the source of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week scolded the World Health Organization (WHO) for supporting the reopening of China’s wet markets, saying it was ‘unfathomable’ to back live animal markets. (Daily Mail)

#2: On April 26, the Australian Financial Review published its interview with the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye. Cheng threatened Australia with economic impact, where China is the largest consumer of the education and tourism services that Australia offers.

“The Chinese public is frustrated, dismayed and disappointed with what Australia is doing now.”

“I think in the long term… if the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think ‘Why should we go to such a country that is not so friendly to China? The tourists may have second thoughts.

“The parents of the students would also think whether this place which they found is not so friendly, even hostile, whether this is the best place to send their kids here.

“It is up to the people to decide. Maybe the ordinary people will say ‘Why should we drink Australian wine? Eat Australian beef?'” (The Australian Financial Review)

#3: On April 27, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne rejected China’s attempted “economic coercion” against Australia. Payne said in a statement that Australia had made a “principled call” for an independent review of the COVID-19 outbreak which started in Wuhan. “We reject any suggestion that economic coercion is an appropriate response to a call for such an assessment, when what we need is global cooperation.” (Reuters)

Related postings on Chinascope:

1. Source: Daily Mail, April 22, 2020
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8245763/Australia-calls-probe-Chinas-wet-markets-Scott-Morrison-speaks-Donald-Trump.html

2. Source: The Australian Financial Review, April 26, 2020
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/china-consumer-backlash-looms-over-morrison-s-coronavirus-probe-20200423-p54mpl

3. Source: Reuters, April 27, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-australia-china/australia-rejects-chinese-economic-coercion-threat-amid-planned-coronavirus-probe-idUSKCN2290Z6

Beijing News: Beijing Reached Level Six Pollution in Two Hours

Beijing News reported on April 24 that, within two hours, the city suffered an air pollution level six, which is the highest severity possible. The primary pollutant was PM10. At 7PM, Beijing city air quality index arrived at 350, which qualified as level six. Northwest of Beijing, including the Olympics Village, it reached 400. Some areas, including a few train stations of the city, even reached the maximum index value of 500, which is the highest measurable with the equipment in place. This level of air pollution was unusually high, even for a city like Beijing. {Editor’s note: Particulate Matter 10 (PM10) describes inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller. According to the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), the U.S. National Annual Second Maximum 24-Hour Average for PM10 has been consistently below 150 for the past 30 years.}

Source: Beijing News, April 24, 2020
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2020/04/24/720854.html

Leadership: Fu Zhenghua Removed from the Deputy Party Secretary Position in the Ministry of Justice

After Sun Lijun, Deputy Minister of Public Security, was taken down, Fu Zhenghua, another high ranking official on the public security team was also removed from the Deputy Party Secretary position of the Ministry of Justice.

Fu was the Deputy Party Secretary and Executive Deputy Minister of Public Security and the previous head of the “610 Office” (in charge of persecuting Falun Gong). He was appointed as the Minister of Justice in 2018. Following the CCP tradition, he also held the Deputy Party Secretary position of the Ministry of Justice. The common interpretation of moving him out of the Ministry of Public Security at that time was to make it easier to investigate his problems at the Ministry of Public Security.

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Leadership: Chinese Media’s Discussions on the Downfall of Deputy Minister of Public Security Sun Lijun

On April 19, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Commission on Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI) announced that it was investigating Sun Lijun (孙力军), Deputy Minister of Public Security, who “has severely violated the party’s discipline and the law.”

It was surprising to many people as Sun was known as a powerful official who had been involved in many arrests of dissidents and who was sent to Wuhan to oversee the police during the coronavirus outbreak. The following are discussions from Chinese media about his downfall.

#1: Sun Is Not Loyal to Xi Jinping

Zhao Kejian, Minister of Public Security held an emergency meeting on April 19, stating “resolutely support the investigation of Sun Lijun.” Zhao said, “Sun Lijun has long been ignoring the party’s political discipline and political rules, violating the discipline, violating the rules, disrespecting (the leader), and doing things on his own will.” This suggests that Sun is not loyal enough to Xi Jinping. (Radio France International)

#2: Sun’s Position Is Too Critical for Political Infighting

Sun is in charge of the No 1 Bureau and No 26 Bureau in the Ministry of Public Security. The No 1 Bureau is the Political Security Bureau, responsible for intelligence gathering, including the control of religion, anti-subversion, and overseas resources (pro-China organizations, spies, etc.). Sun is also the Director of the Public Security Ministry’s Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Affairs Office. Xi Jinping’s cronies in Hong Kong were not able to direct the ministry’s spies in Hong Kong since they took directions from Sun.

Sun was in such a critical position that his support could determine if a political coup would succeed. Sun was in the camp of former CCP head Jiang Zemin and was against Xi. Sun’s downfall means that Xi has the recent political infighting under control. (Epoch Times)

#3: Sun Was Sent to Wuhan So That Wang Xiaohong Could Take over His Work

An insider pointed out that the taking down of Sun Lijun was well planned out. Sun was sent to Wuhan to oversee the police there during the coronavirus outbreak, to get him out of Beijing. Then Xi Jinping appointed his follower Wang Xiaohong to be the Party Secretary and Director of the Special Service Bureau, Ministry of Public Security, to take over the work from Sun.

There was also a guess that Sun might have leaked secrets about Xi’s visit to Wuhan, such as Xi’s snipers aimed at Wuhan police officers as they were afraid that Wuhan police might attempt to assassinate Xi. (Radio Free Asia)

#4: Sun Has Been Involved in Many Arrests

Xi has long been managing secret works of the Public Security Ministry. He was the Deputy Director of the “610 Office,” which was in charge of persecuting Falun Gong. He also directed the execution of arrests and the interrogation of political dissidents. Guo Wengui, a Chinese real estate billionaire who fled to the U.S. and became a political activist against the CCP, stated that Sun came to the U.S. in May 2017 to try to persuade him to return to China, but he rejected Sun’s suggestion. Sun was also said to be behind the arrest of the owner and the staff of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books (a book store that published books revealing shady information about the CCP’s top leaders) and the massive arrests of human rights attorneys on July 9, 2015. (Radio Free Asia)

#5: Sun Has Damaged Xi Jinping’s Image

A political commentator said that Sun’s arrests of political dissidents had damaged the CCP’s image and made Xi Jinping look bad. Sun also ordered other people to do things, claiming that he received orders from Xi Jinping’s Office or Peng Liyuan’s Office (Peng is Xi’s wife). (Radio France International)

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World against the CCP: An Open Letter to Advocate an Open and Free China and Stop Supporting the CCP

Over one hundred politicians, scholars, and human rights advocates around the world signed an open letter to the world, appealing to people around the world to join the courageous and conscientious Chinese citizens including Xu Zhangrun, Ai Fen, Li Wenliang, and Ren Zhiqiang to advocate for an open and free China, and not to support the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as some people have done “for decades.”

The letter stated,

“The current global crisis has been caused by the regime that so many of you have been tolerating or supporting for decades.

On 2 April 2020, a group of one hundred Chinese establishment scholars wrote an open letter decrying the “many critical voices politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic.” They stated that “(at) this stage of the pandemic, the exact source and origin of COVID-19 remain undetermined, but these questions are unimportant and finger pointing is demeaning and hurtful to everyone.” They also argued against what they alleged is the politicizing of the epidemic.

The open letter exemplifies what the independent intellectual Professor Xu Zhangrun has called the “ridiculous ‘Red Culture’ and the nauseating adulation that the system heaps on itself via shameless pro-Party hacks who chirrup hosannas at every turn.”

Professor Xu—now under house arrest—has called on his compatriots to stop their uncritical support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and instead to “rage against this injustice; let your lives burn with a flame of decency; break through the stultifying darkness and welcome the dawn.”

While the exact source and spread of the virus are not clear, yet the question of origin is highly important, for the people of China and for all humankind: only by understanding how this global disaster could emerge can we prevent it from happening again.

The roots of the pandemic are in a cover-up by CCP authorities in Wuhan, Hubei province. Under the influence of the CCP the World Health Organization first downplayed the pandemic. Taiwanese health officials also allege that it ignored their alerts in late December about human-to-human transmission. Under pressure from the CCP, democratic Taiwan—which has coped with the pandemic in exemplary fashion—is excluded from the WHO.

We should never forget that China’s Chernobyl moment was a self-inflicted wound. The CCP silenced Chinese doctors who wanted to warn other health professionals during the early stage of the outbreak: Dr. Ai Fen can no longer appear in public after accepting a domestic media interview; her colleague Dr. Li Wenliang died while fighting the virus in Wuhan. On his deathbed Dr. Li famously said that “a healthy society shouldn’t have only one voice.”

The global pandemic forces us all to confront an inconvenient truth: by politicizing all aspects of life including people’s health, continued autocratic one-party rule in the People’s Republic of China has endangered everyone. Rather than trusting the CCP’s intentions and accepting establishment academics’ uncritical approval of the party-state’s policies, we should pay greater attention to the voices of what can be termed ‘unofficial’ China. These independent-minded academics, doctors, entrepreneurs, citizen journalists, public interest lawyers and young students no longer accept the CCP’s rule by fear. Neither should you.

As an international group of public figures, security policy analysts and China watchers we stand in solidarity with courageous and conscientious Chinese citizens including Xu Zhangrun, Ai Fen, Li Wenliang, Ren Zhiqiang, Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin, Li Zehua, Xu Zhiyong, and Zhang Wenbin, just to name a few of the real heroes and martyrs who risk their life and liberty for a free and open China. Their individual voices are already forming a chorus. They demand nothing less than a critical evaluation of the impact of CCP policies on the lives of Chinese citizens and citizens around the world. We urge you to join them.

Signed, in alphabetical order: …”

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Source: Citizen Power Initiatives for China, April 16, 2020

Open letter: The Communist Party’s rule by fear endangers Chinese citizens – and the world

Hiding Information: Chaoyang District in Beijing Has Many Coronavirus Infection Cases

On April 20, China identified Chaoyang District, Beijing as a “High Risk” region for the coronavirus pandemic, the only “High Risk” area in China.

Epoch Times obtained an official document from the Chaoyang District government, titled “Summary Report of the Management of Four Types of People,” dated April 19. The document showed that on April 19, 3,357 people in the district were under isolation or close watch.

Beijing has been quarantining and testing “four types” of people, including confirmed patients, suspected patients, people who had close contact with infected patients, and asymptomatic carriers.

On April 19, the Beijing Coronavirus Epidemic Prevention and Control Leading Group issued a new work plan to conduct a nucleic acid test on eight types of people and have them pay for the testing expenses:

  1. Patients, including confirmed patients, suspected patients, recovered patients who came back to the hospital for a recheck, and people who had a close contact with them.
  2. People with a fever.
  3. People who needed to be hospitalized.
  4. People who entered Beijing from abroad.
  5. People coming to Beijing from Wuhan who were about to end the quarantine.
  6. Staff members of central party organs and the central government who returned from Wuhan.
  7. People who came to Beijing from other part of China and stayed at hotels.
  8. The graduating high school and middle school students and their teachers, who come to Beijing from other part of China.

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Hiding Information: Heilongjiang Province Is Preparing for an Anthrax Epidemic

The Epoch Times obtained internal documents from the Harbin Municipal Health Committee titled, “The Notice on the Prevention and Control of Anthrax in the Whole Province,” dated on April 10. The document was issued to the district and county health committees in the city.

According to the “Notice,” Heilongjiang Province is about to enter the high season for anthrax outbreaks. Anthrax is an infectious disease common to humans and animals; and it will create social fear once it occurs, given the current Pneumonia situation. The “Notice” also asked media to communicate the “harmfulness and preventability of anthrax” and “do a good job in guiding and monitoring public opinion.”

So far, the Chinese media, which are under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, have not disclosed the potential anthrax information to the general public.

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Justice: Mississippi State, Las Vegas Attorney, and Florida Law Firm Sued China for Coronavirus Damages

More governments and people in the United States have filed lawsuits against the communist regime in China for their liability in concealing the information about the coronavirus and causing a worldwide pandemic.

#1: The Mississippi State Government:

Mississippi State sued the Chinese government for concealing the origin and the initial spread of the coronavirus, thus putting millions of Americans at risk and causing economic chaos. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said what the communist regime did was “very malicious” and it was “a very dangerous cover-up.”

Mississippi is the second state in the U.S., after Missouri, to have initiated a legal approach to hold China accountable. (Fox News)

#2: Las Vegas Lawyers:

On April 20, Las Vegas attorneys, led by Robert T. Eglet, filed a class action lawsuit in the Nevada District Court seeking unspecified damages from China for the harm it has caused to small businesses in the United States. Eglet said the lawsuit is against the Chinese government and not the Chinese people or American Chinese, as they are also victims.

Five small businesses are named as plaintiffs, including a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) services company, a company that wholesales flowers, and Bella Vita LLC, a company that runs a restaurant in Las Vegas.

The lawsuit is against the People’s Republic of China, the country’s National Health Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and also the province of Hubei and the city of Wuhan. (KLAS-TV)

#3: A Florida Law Firm:

The Berman Law Group, a law firm based in Boca Raton, Florida, filed a lawsuit in a federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on behalf of a group of front-line healthcare workers, against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), charging it with mishandling the coronavirus outbreak and with blocking the export of gloves, goggles, and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and selling them at a substantial mark-up while people across the globe are getting sick and dying from COVID-19.

The plaintiffs include a New York doctor, a New Jersey surgical technologist, a West Virginia nurse, and a doctor and a nurse working in Florida. The law firm claims that this suit could cover nearly 4 million US healthcare workers. (New York Post)

Related postings on Chinascope:

1. Source: Fox News, April 25, 2020
https://www.foxnews.com/media/lynn-fitch-mississippi-attorney-general-china-coronavirus-lawsuit

2. Source: KLAS-TV, March 24, 2020

Class action lawsuit filed in Las Vegas blames China for COVID-19 outbreak

3. Source: New York Post, April 8, 2020
https://nypost.com/2020/04/08/healthcare-workers-suing-china-for-hoarding-ppe/