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Hiding Information: Document Showed the CCP Hid Info for Six Critical Days of Virus Containment

Associated Press (AP) has obtained an official document from China that showed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials knew the severity of the coronavirus and the likelihood of person-to-person transmission on January 14, 2020. The government passed down instructions to local health officials to take cautious measures, but not to disclose it to the public. The government didn’t admit the epidemic outbreak and the person-to-person transmission to the public until January 20, six days later.

AP received documents from an anonymous source in the medical field and verified the authenticity of the documents.

A memo in the documents states that, on January 14, China’s National Health Commission held a confidential teleconference with provincial health officials to convey instructions on the coronavirus from CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and Vice Premier Sun Chunlan. The memo does not specify what those instructions were.

Ma Xiaowei, Director of China’s National Health Commission, said at the conference, “The epidemic situation is still severe and complex, the most severe challenge since SARS in 2003, and is likely to develop into a major public health event.”

Under a section titled “Sober Understanding of the Situation,” the memo said that, “clustered cases suggest that human-to-human transmission is possible.”

“With the coming of the Spring Festival, many people will be traveling, and the risk of transmission and spread is high. All localities must prepare for and respond to a pandemic.”

Ma demanded officials unite around Xi and made clear that political considerations and social stability were key priorities during the long lead-up to China’s two biggest political meetings of the year in March.

The National Health Commission also distributed a 63-page set of instructions to provincial health officials. The instructions ordered health officials nationwide to identify suspected cases, hospitals to open fever clinics, and doctors and nurses to wear protective gear. The instructions were marked “internal” — “not to be spread on the internet,” “not to be publicly disclosed.”

In public, officials continued to downplay the threat, pointing to the 41 cases that were public at the time.

“We have reached the latest understanding that the risk of sustained human-to-human transmission is low,” Li Qun, the head of the China Center for Diseases Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) emergency center, told Chinese state television on Jan. 15. A CDC notice shows on that day that Li was appointed leader of a group preparing emergency plans for the level one response.

On Jan. 20, Xi Jinping issued his first public comments on the virus, saying the outbreak “must be taken seriously” and every possible measure pursued. A leading Chinese epidemiologist, Zhong Nanshan, announced for the first time on national television that the virus was transmissible from person to person.

CCP Suspends Anti-America Propaganda on Wuhan Virus

On April 15, 2020, Minghui reported that, according to internal sources, the CCP Central Propaganda Department recently issued an “emergency notice” to media in mainland China to suspend the official CCP propaganda on the Wuhan virus immediately. Analysts interpret the notice as an indication that the CCP Central Propaganda Department is not willing to assume responsibility for the previous CCP propaganda guidelines. It is believed that the notice was due to the claims filed against China and to the increased advocacy from the international community to hold China accountable for the cover-up of the pandemic.

According to the emergency notice, “brakes must be applied immediately” on all propaganda that advertises how remarkable the Chinese anti-pandemic effort is and how “inferior” the anti-pandemic efforts in foreign countries are. The notice also stated that this was “a painful decision made by its senior leadership based on the current situation.”

Analysts believe that the CCP Central Propaganda Department is attempting to avoid being a scapegoat in the future. Some experts believe that this may be the result of an internal rift and that the CCP will not change.

Since the outbreak of the Wuhan virus in January this year, the CCP has engaged in a major propaganda campaign setting off another anti-America wave, while doing everything it could possibly do to cover up that which allowed the coronavirus to become a global pandemic.

Source: Minghui, April 15, 2020
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2020/4/15/ -403871.html

Briefings | | April 16, 2020 | US-China Relations

Xinhua: Chinese Long March Rocket Failed Again

Xinhua recently reported that, on April 9, China’s Long March III-B carrier rocket failed its satellite mission for the Indonesian satellite PALAPA-N1. The first and second launch stages succeeded but the third stage failed and the satellite was destroyed too. The failure occurred at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Less than a month ago, on March 16, the Long March VII Modified Rocket failed its mission at the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA) Chinese Edition, military analysts expressed the belief that the U.S. blockage of providing critical computer chips to China resulted in the slowdown of the Chinese technology development plans. This is also the reason for the failures seen in the recent Dongfeng Nuclear Missile tests. China had to replace certain chips with those developed domestically.

Sources:
(1) Xinhua, April 9, 2020 http://www.xinhuanet.com/2020-04/09/c_1125834989.htm
(2) Xinhua, March 16, 2020 http://www.xinhuanet.com/tech/2020-03/16/c_1125721734.htm
(3) RFA Chinese, April 10, 2020 https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/rocket-04102020081337.html

Briefings | | April 16, 2020 | Information/Technology

Apple Daily: U.S.-Taiwan Submarine Fiber Cable Approved

Apple Daily (headquartered in Hong Kong) Taiwan Branch recently reported that, with the coronavirus crisis deepening, the remote working model introduced a major increase of network bandwidth demand. The FCC just approved Google’s application to open the PLCN (Pacific Light Cable Network) fiber segment between California and Taiwan. This newly approved connection will allow fast communication between Google’s U.S. and Asian data centers. The PLCN segment between California and Hong Kong was not approved due to strong opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This decision ends the priority status of the Hong Kong fiber station. DOJ explained that the Hong Kong fiber channel may significantly threaten U.S. national security and law enforcement interests, since Hong Kong is getting heavier and heavier intervention from Mainland China. The DOJ position received strong support from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD). Since 2016, Google and Facebook have jointly funded the PLCN network. Taiwan has Google’s largest Asian data center (the other two are in India and Singapore).

Source: Apple Daily Taiwan, April 10, 2020
https://tw.appledaily.com/international/20200410/CX3GHUKXM7BUKYKSDUL3UCVVGI/

Briefings | | April 16, 2020 | Information/Technology US-China Relations

Propaganda and Lies: FCC Commissioner Unmasked China Spokesperson’s Lie

On April 9, China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying posted on Twitter:

“Welcome to China anytime and talk to anyone in the streets to enjoy the freedom. BTW Where is freedom & transparency when Captain Crozier was dismissed for a letter to save thousands of lives and medical workers fired for talking about working conditions?”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr responded with a list of people that he wished to speak with, whom the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has silenced for speaking out the truth:

“Great! First, I would like to speak with Dr. AI Fen. She worked at Wuhan Central Hospital and tried to sound the alarm on the virus. Could you un-disappear her so we could speak?”

“Next, I’d like to speak with Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin – two video bloggers that tried to bring the world a glimpse of Wuhan unfiltered by your Communist regime. Could you un-disappear them so we could speak?”

“I’d then like to speak with Xie Linka who worked at Wuhan Union Hospital. She joined other Wuhan health officials in trying to sound the alarm on Covid before being berated and forced into silence by communist officials. Can I speak with her?”

Last, he asked Hua Chunying, “@SpokespersonCHN does your offer still stand? Or has it suddenly disappeared as things tend to do over there?”

Infection Count: Heilongjiang Is Preparing for Epidemic Outbreak

China is tense because it is on the alert for a possible coronavirus outbreak in Heilongjiang Province, a big province that borders Russia.

From April 4 to April 8, the official count included a report of 118 infection cases in Heilongjiang. All were Chinese people who had returned from Russia. China announced that, since then, it had closed all border checkpoints that were on the land between China and Russia. Suifenhe City, Heilongjiang Province, a main city on the border with Russia, built a modular hospital with 600 beds and would start to put it in use on April 11.

Li Keqiang stressed at a meeting of the Central Epidemic Prevention and Control Leader Group that China would send people from other provinces to help the bordering cities and regions on their testing and treating of the epidemic.

(Editor’s Note: There was a report that Russia was sending 1.5 million Chinese back to China, but it was not clear whether, after China closed the border, these people had made it into China or were still in Russia.)

Epoch Times reported that it obtained a copy of a “Notice on Treatment Plan for Confirmed Cases and Asymptomatic Cases of People Entering from Suifenhe City,” that the Heilongjiang Health Commission had issued on April 8.

The Notice said that the whole province prepared 4,530 patient beds in three regions. One region, the combination of Mudianjiang City and Suifenhe City, had 1,230 beds. The other two regions are Jixi City and Harbin City. If the patients exceed the capacity of the Mudianjiang-Suifenhe region, the other two regions must ensure they can start accepting patients in three days.

The Notice also asked local governments and hospitals to form medical support teams and virus control support teams: eight cities and hospitals were each to form a 100-member medical team, four cities each were to form a 50-member medical team, and five cities were each to each form a 20-member virus control team. It asked that the names of the people in those teams be reported by April 9.

However, since China reported only over 100 infections in Heilongjiang, Epoch Times asked what the need is for the 4,530 beds? It mentioned one possibility, which is an internal outbreak in the province. Heilongjiang showed a high alert about asymptomatic infection back in February. On February 23, the Heilongjiang Epidemic Prevention and Control Center issued a “Notice on the Management of Asymptomatic Carriers of Novel Coronavirus in Heilongjiang Province.”

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

CCP Suspends Anti-America Propaganda on Wuhan Virus

Xinhua: Chinese Long March Rocket Failed Again

Apple Daily: U.S.-Taiwan Submarine Fiber Cable Approved

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