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CNA: On April 4, Beijing Mourned the Dead while Netizens Fought Against Censorship and Demands Truth

In China, “404” means April 4, which is Ching Ming Festival or Memorial Day when people pay reverence of one’s ancestors in Chinese culture. Meanwhile it also means a webpage is deleted and “not found.” It often happens when words or content that are not liked by the authorities are deleted as soon as they are posted online. On April 4, while leaders in Beijing gathered together to mourn the death of the 2019 coronavirus disease, Chinese netizens were also commemorating the “404” on the internet. In addition to mourning the dead, they posted articles and comments criticizing the authorities’ act of covering up the truth and blocking comments on the internet. There were many commemorations and criticisms of the government appeared on the Internet while the authorities were busy deleting such postings at the same time.

On Sina Weibo, Chinese netizens expressed their helplessness and anger in a joking tone. Some people said: “It felt like a large-scale 404 site, and none of the postings I saw last night are still there.” “LOL(Laugh out loud)… complaining about 404 will indeed bring us 404.” Others have criticized: “If there was no 404, the flag wouldn’t be half way on April 4, nor will there be lock down and isolations, humanitarian tragedies, and economic crises all over the world.”

There are only a few articles left on the internet that are too late to be deleted or re-posted. Some people refused to follow the Chinese Communist Party officials to pay silence on this day because “I don’t like to have a special permission or to be arranged to show sadness. I think most people won’t Like it. ”
Another article stated that “On this day, please forgive me for not to participate. I don’t think this is a suitable time for the public ceremony. The epidemic is not over yet. There is still the possibility of more death from the epidemic. This feels like a unilateral announcement of a ceasefire when we don’t even know who is winning. This posting has been deleted since.

Source: Central News Agency, April 4, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202004040101.aspx

Local Government: Local Governments in China Are Still against Hubei People

Though the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had been reporting zero infection cases in Hubei and, on March 25, removed the lockdown in Hubei Province for all cities except Wuhan, other cities in China are still suspicious of Hubei people and do not want to take them in.

Voice of America (VOA) reported that, at a bridge between Hubei and Jiangxi provinces, police from both sides engaged in a fight since Jiangxi wanted to block Hubei people from coming in. On March 27, police from Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province went to the bridge to set up roadblocks to prevent automobiles from Hubei from crossing the bridge. Hubei police objected. Both sides engaged in a fight which they then further reinforcement. It escalated when Jiangxi’s special police and hundreds of Hubei people joined in. Police cars were even flipped upside down.

QQ reported that many provinces and cities required that, for Hubei people to go in, in addition to a health certificate, they must also provide the local community’s acceptance certification (to accept the Hubei people to live in the local area). However, it is hard for Hubei people to obtain such a certificate.

Media also reported that buses carrying Hubei people from cities of low coronavirus risk were told, when they arrived at their destination city at other provinces, to go back home. Some people were forced to sleep in the bus. Some were even told to use plastic bags when they needed to go to bathroom, so that “they would not get off the bus to spread the virus.”

Beijing has announced that it does not want any people from Hubei (whether they traveled there or lived there) to come to Beijing. Bao Liqun, Deputy General Manager of China Railway’s Wuhan Bureau Group, said that there were nearly 200,000 people stuck in Hubei who needed to go to Beijing.

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RFA: Rights Lawyer Wang Quanzhang Was Released and Placed under House Arrest

Wang Quanzhang, a rights activist who was sentenced to four and a half years was released on April 5th. The authorities placed him under house arrest in Jinan, Shandong, claiming it was “out of concern for COVID 19.” Li Wenzu, Wang Quanzhang’s wife and his son were in Beijing but they will not be able to meet with him.

Wang Quanzhang is one of China’s human rights lawyers. He handled sensitive cases in Beijing for many years and protected the interests of vulnerable groups, including Falun Gong, Christians, and farmers who lost their farmland. The police arrested him in 2015. The authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on Chinese lawyers and human rights activists on July 9. Wang was “disappeared” for more than a thousand days. He was released after his family made repeated demands and also as a result of pressure from the international community. He is also known as the last person released from the 709 crackdown case. More than 200 people were detained as part of the “709 2015 crackdown.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, April 5, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/3-04052020113349.html

World against the CCP: Sichuan Citizens and Politicians from U.S., U.K, Brazil, Australia, and Italy Criticized the CCP

Many people, including politicians, news reporters, and citizens in China criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for bringing disasters to the world.

#1: China: Zhao Kai, a citizen in Sichuan Province, published a video calling for dissolving the CCP. He also thinks that the international righteous forces should help the Chinese people dissolve the CCP. This will not only benefit the Chinese people, but also help the world as the CCP has always been a great threat to the world’s civilized system. (Epoch Times)

#2: U.S.: On March 25, Secretary Pompeo, stated at a press conference after the G7 Foreign Minister’s meeting:

“First, we spent a substantial amount of time on threats posed by authoritarian states.  The Chinese Communist Party poses a substantial threat to our health and way of life, as the Wuhan virus outbreak clearly has demonstrated.  The CCP also threatens to undermine the free and open order that has underpinned our mutual prosperity and safety in the G7 countries.

“I urged every one of the countries to work together to protect the UN and other organizations from its malign influence and authoritarianism.  We G7 countries must promote our shared values of freedom, sovereignty, good governance, transparency, and accountability, and push the UN to uphold these principles as well.”

#3: U.S.: Morgan Ortagus, a Whitehouse spokesperson, said that the Global Engagement Center (GEC) under the Department of State is currently working hard to deal with the war of false information from foreign countries. The GEC formed three new teams to deal with false information from Russia, China, and Iran, respectively. The GEC was originally founded to focus on anti-terrorism tasks. (Radio Free Asia)

#4: U.K.: The Mail on Sunday reported that, on March 29, Boris Johnson, Britain’s Prime Minister, who has been infected with the coronavirus, was furious with China’s way of handling the epidemic. He will review the U.K-China relationship after the pandemic is over and may take counter actions, including excluding Huawei from the U.K.’s 5G infrastructure work. (Mail on Sunday)

#5: Brazil: On March 19, Eduardo Bolsonaro, Congressman and son of Brazil’s President, tweeted, “Once again, the authoritarian regime chose to hide some serious matters instead of revealing the facts, which could have saved countless lives. China should be condemned, and democracy is the solution.” (Epoch Times)

#6: Bernie Finn, a member of the Australia parliament, posted on Facebook on March 20:

“The communist regime in China is no friend of Australia. It’s really gone out of its way to prove that this time. We should NEVER believe or trust it again!”

He posted on March 27 again:

“I have no problem with Chinese people, whether they be here or in their homeland. My issue is with the communist Chinese Government that lied, covered up and allowed the Wuhan virus to kill not just its own people but engulf the world.

“Despite the best efforts of communist shills, my position is VERY clear: Chinese people – good; Chinese Government – bad.

“Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.”

#7: Italy: On March 26, Marco Respinti, an Italian news reporter, published an article on Rete Liberale, an Italian newspaper, stating, “Don’t call it ‘Chinese virus,’ but call it ‘CCP virus.’” (Epoch Times)

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RFA: As More Retail Stores Are Put up for Sale, More Businesses Will Shut Down

COVID 19 has hit China’s economy hard, especially in the retail industry. In the Xinjiekou commercial area of Nanjing, Jiangsu province, some netizens took pictures which show that there were more than a dozen shops on the street with “For Sale” signs on them. Scholars believe that as the COVID 19 outbreak continues to worsen in the US and other Western countries, foreign countries will stop imports from China. Thus there will be more Chinese companies that will face bankruptcy. One resident in Wuhan said that many small businesses are trying to think of a backup plan. Once the lock-down in Wuhan has ended, many of the small businesses won’t be able to survive even with a loan from the government. This applies to retail business in Zhejiang, Fujian province and all the way to Helongjiang province in the northeast part of China. A retired Economics Professor at Sichuan University told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that there will be a wave of business shutdowns. As COVID 19 continues to spread around the world, more businesses will close. The impact is no different from a world war.

According to private surveys, nearly 30 percent of China’s population has no savings in the bank. Since the national economy has been shut down for the past two months, the local government’s fiscal revenue has also been greatly affected. Provinces and municipalities have recently announced their February fiscal revenue. Among them, Hubei is the worst. After deducting the income from land, the fiscal revenue fell 98.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Henan, the neighboring province of Hubei also fell 30 percent and Guangdong, a major export province, fell 27 percent. Most provinces and cities have fallen by more than 20 percent.

Source: Radio Free Asia, April 3, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/ql2-04032020055206.html

Accountability: Chinese Professor Challenged the CCP with Ten Questions

As the novel coronavirus pandemic has continued spreading around the world, not only have the politicians and scholars around the world started holding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable for causing the worldwide disaster, but Chinese have also started challenging the CCP.

The BBC commented that it was the CCP’s bureaucratic system that made China suffer as much as it did. Officials in China are only responsible to higher-ups but not to the people. Many people in China thought that it was the “inaction” of the officials that resulted in the missed time in responding to the virus.

Radio France International and the Epoch Times reported that on March 13, Hu Xuemei, a law professor at Shanghai East China Normal University submitted ten requests on the National Health Commission’s website asking for information to be released to the public. There were reports that in early and mid-January, healthcare practitioners and researchers had reported to the government about the SARS-linked virus and its ability to transmit from person to person. This included reports to the National Health Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the government didn’t take any serious action against the epidemic until January 20.

Hu’s requests were:

  1. The media reported that, on January 12, that Hong Kong University confirmed the first “person-to-person” transmittal case and informed Shenzhen, Guangdong, and the National CDC on the same day. Is it true? Can you please release information?
  2. The media reported that, on January 15, China’s CDC activated a Level 1 emergency response to the Wuhan epidemic. Is it true? Please release information.
  3. The Media reported that, from January 3 to February 3, China’s CDC provided the U.S. Wuhan epidemic information 30 times. Is that true? Please release the information.
  4. The Media reported that, on January 5, the Public Health Clinical Center affiliated with Fudan University identified the entire genome of Wuhan Pneumonia and found that it is 89.11 percent homologous to SARS coronavirus; they recommended to the National Health Commission, “take appropriate preventive measures in public places.” Is that true? Please release information.
  5. The Media reported that on, January 6, China’s CDC activated a Level 2 emergency response to the Wuhan epidemic. Is it true? Please release the justification for the Level 2 response.
  6. On January 8, when National Health Commission sent its second expert group to Wuhan, did they investigate the 59 confirmed cases that the Wuhan Health Commission published on January 5? Did they verify (the information) for each and every patient if they were infected from the Huanan Seafood market? Please release the second expert group’s report.
  7. The Media reported that National Health Commission’s first expert group arrived at Wuhan on December 31, 2019 and stayed there for four days. Is that true? Did they investigate the 27 confirmed cases that Wuhan Health Commission published on December 31, 2019? Did they verify for each and every patient, if they were infected from the Huanan Seafood market? Please release the first expert group’s report.
  8. Please release the following information: the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia infection count and cases that Wuhan reported on or before January 24; after which period did Wuhan stopped reporting data? Did the National Health Commission or the CDC send any person to inquire or investigate the reason for stopping the reporting of data? If so, what was Wuhan’s response to the inquiry?
  9. Please release the justification for issuing Wang Guangfa the honorary title “Advanced Individual.” (Wang was a medical doctor in the second expert group to Wuhan; he stated that there was no “person-to-person” transmission.)
  10. Please release the official document “National Plan on Surveillance, Investigation, and Management of the Unknown-Caused Pneumonia Program.” Is that regulation still in effect?

Hu said that China’s Government Information Openness Rule stated that she should receive a response in twenty days. As of April 4, 21 days after the requests were made, there has been no report that Beijing has provided a response.

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Medical Supplies: Earlier This Year, the CCP Bought up the World’s Medical Supplies

In the early stages, when the outbreak was only in China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mobilized many companies to buy up the medical supplies from around the world. As the result, other countries had very few supplies left when the pandemic outbreak expanded. China imported at least 2 billion face masks and 25.4 million items of protective clothing from all over the world.

#1: According to China’s Customs report, from January 24 to February 2, China imported a total of 94,000 batches of epidemic prevention and control materials, of total of 240 million pieces with a net worth of 810 million yuan (US $114 million). Among them, protective equipment accounted for 74.9 percent, with 230 million pieces and 610 million yuan. It included 220 million face masks, 2.5 million pieces of protective clothing, and 279,000 pairs of goggles.

#2: According to China’s Customs report, from January 24 to February 29, China imported 2.46 billion pieces of epidemic prevention and control materials, with a net worth of 8.21 billion yuan (US $1.16 billion). The protective equipment included a count of 2.4 billion pieces, including 2 billion face masks and 25.4 million protective clothing.

#3: The CCP mobilized many Chinese companies to perform these global purchases. On January 31, Xinhua reported that Fosun International, Alibaba, Suning and many other companies have opened up overseas channels for global procurement.

It also stated that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it will do its utmost to promote the resumption of production, while encouraging enterprises to expand international procurement to meet domestic demand.

#4: China Poly Group, the state-owned enterprises for internal sales of arms and defense products, was also involved. It used its connections to coordinate the shipping of medical supplies to China. Poly International Development Limited mobilized its employees to conduct procurement globally. Several hundred employees, in seven cities in three countries including Australia, worked on sourcing supplies.

#5: The Sidney Morning Herald reported that Greenland Group, a Shanghai government owned company, whose focus in Sydney and Melbourne was real estate business, totally stopped its business and instructed all of its employees on “sourcing bulk supplies of surgical masks, thermometers, antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizers, gloves, and Panadol” to ship to China. According to a company newsletter, the Greenland Group sourced 3 million protective masks, 700,000 hazmat suits and 500,000 pairs of protective gloves from “Australia, Canada, Turkey and other countries.”

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Virus Origin: In March, China Completed a Five-Month Coronavirus Vaccine Development Effort

China reported that, on March 16, its first recombinant coronavirus vaccine (adenovirus vector) was approved for clinical trial. Volunteers, organized in 3 groups with 36 people in each group, were given injections. They were under observation for 14 days.

The Institute of Biological Engineering, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences of the Academy of Military Sciences, and CanSino Biologics, Inc (CanSinoBIO), a biopharmaceutical company, developed the vaccine. Major General Chen Wei, China’s chief biochemical weapon defense expert and an Academician at China’s Engineering Academy, led the development.

However, on the Internet, people pointed out that it would have taken at least 5 months to develop the recombinant coronavirus vaccine that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had gotten approved. The U.S. has also developed a vaccine in a short period, but it was based on a different technology (mRNA technology), which could take about 40 days to do. The traditional recombinant vaccine could provide a permanent cure but the mRNA vaccine is like a flu shot that needs to be done every year.

Thus, people questioned when the CCP started its vaccine development so it could complete the five months of efforts by March.

Below is the timeline of vaccine development efforts of Chen Wei’s team, according to reports by Economic Daily, New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), HK01, Liberty Times, Wang Hao’s Facebook Posting (quoted by the Liberty Times).

On January 26, Chen Wei went to Wuhan to take over the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, China’s first Biocontainment Level 4 (BL4) lab (Chinese call it a P4 lab). (NTDTV – based on a report from China’s state media)

On January 28, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences started developing the vaccine. (NTDTV – based on report by China’s state media)

On February 26, Chen’s team developed and manufactured the recombinant coronavirus vaccine. Pictures on the Internet showed the vaccine bottle. The label said, “manufactured on February 26, 2020; expires on February 25, 2022; and manufactured by the Academy of Military Medical Sciences of the Academy of Military Sciences and CanSinoBIO.” (NTDTV and HK01)

On March 3, Chen Wei and six other party members took the vaccine injection for a “first-time human body safety test.” Sun Chunlan, China’s Vice Premier, went to the site to congratulate them. (NTDTV – based on a report by China’s state media)

On March 16, China started a human clinical trial. (Economic Daily)

Some people questioned whether the CCP actually started the vaccine work back in September, 2019 (Liberty Times quoted Wang Hao’s Facebook posting and also another Twitter account which made the same point). They said two things are suspicious:

  1. On September 18, 2019, China held a “Novel Coronavirus Emergency Response” Exercise in Wuhan.
  2. CanSinoBIO’s stock price had a strange performance in November and December of last year. The stock has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since March 2019, but it was very attractive initially. In October 2019, after Wuhan’s “Novel Coronavirus” exercise, its stock started to rise; there were a large volume of purchases in mid-November; and the stocks’ price doubled in December; though there was not much news about the stock at that time.

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