Skip to content

Leadership: Beijing May Hold “Lianghui” (“The Two Conferences”) in Late April or Early May

The “Lianghui,” or the “Two Conferences,” is a common Mandarin Chinese abbreviation for the national or local People’s Congress and the national or local committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. It’s a rubber stamp process to show that representatives of the people in the country or in a local region review and approve of the work of the central or local government and make decisions about the personnel in the committees of the People’s Congress and the People’s Political Consultative Conference.

The national level of the “Lianghui” was scheduled to be held in Beijing in early March, but due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, Beijing suspended it.

Lianhe Zaobao, a newspaper in Singapore, reported that, according to insider information, Beijing is temporarily planning to hold the two conferences at end of April or early May. It mentioned that Reuters reported that the date has not been yet been set but that the number of people attending might be reduced and people outside of Beijing attending the conference will go through quarantine.

Lianhe Zaobao commented that it may be a key indicator if the two conferences can take place in two months. It will mean that the China’s leaders are thinking that everything is getting back to normal.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Continue reading

“World Leader”: China’s Novel Coronavirus Vaccine Is Ready for Human Testing

Global Times, a publication under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) mouthpiece People’s Daily, tweeted on March 17:

“#Breaking: Recombinant #COVID19 vaccine developed by the team led by top PLA epidemiologist Chen Wei was approved to launch clinical trials in#China on Monday”

Science Net reported on March 17, that Wang Junzhi, a member of the China Engineering Academy, said at a State Council press conference that China’s vaccine research team has started recruiting volunteers for testing.

“This is an institution which has made fast progress in the development of a vaccine, submitted a clinical trial application to the State Drug Administration and started reviewing the clinical trial plan and recruiting volunteers.” “We are among the leading tier of the countries in novel coronavirus vaccine R&D work and will not be slower than foreign countries.”

Wang said that China picked eight teams to focus on five technical areas when launching the vaccine development work. Most of the teams will complete a pre-trial study in April and gradually start clinical trials afterward. Some team(s) are even faster.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Continue reading

Propaganda and Lies: China’s Propaganda Machine Spread Zhao Lijian’s Accusations against the U.S.

On March 12, Zhao Lijian, Spokesman & Deputy Director General of the Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused the United States of being the origin of the novel coronavirus, tweeting, “It might be the US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent!”

Twitter account @LandofYelang tweeted on March 13, 2020:

“Facts have shown that this is definitely not Zhao Lijian’s personal behavior, but rather an (event) planned by an organization.”

It then showed a tweet response quoting a WeChat posting by the People’s Daily Party Construction Cloud account, with the title of “The United States Owes Us an Explanation.”

The tweet response was to a tweet from Global Times, a media under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) mouthpiece People’s Daily. The tweet said:

“As the US #COVID19 situation becomes increasingly obscure, the Chinese public shares the suspicion raised by Zhao Lijian @zlj517 that the US might be the source of the virus and that the US is subject to questioning and is obliged to explain to the world. https://globaltimes.cn/content/1182511.shtml…”

The account @LandofYelang again tweeted on March 16, 2020:

“This is a state action. According to incomplete statistics, Chinese ambassadors or embassies in South Africa, the Philippines, Pakistan, Botswana, Jordan, France, Iran, Chad, and Uganda have all forwarded Zhao Lijian’s tweet.”

He also provided screenshots of Chinas’ ambassadors retweeting Zhao’s tweet. These ambassadors include Lin Songtian, Ambassador to South Africa, Zhang Lizhong, Ambassador to Maldives, Zhao Yanbo, Ambassador to Botswana, and Chang Hua, Ambassador to Iran.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Sources:

1. Twitter

2. Twitter

3. Twitter

“World Leader”: Experts: Other Countries Cannot Adopt China’s Epidemic Control Model

The BBC published an article in which experts stated that they do not see China’s model to control and prevent coronavirus fit for other countries, because the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) actions violated human rights significantly and also had an economic and social impact.

Freddie Gomez, a famous Filipino medical program host and otolaryngologist, believes that China’s strict measures of forced-quarantine and complete lockdown are hard for other countries to accept. “Official’s sudden visits, neighbor’s monitoring each other, and monopolizing information all obviously violate human rights.”

Lawrence Gostin, global public health specialist at Georgetown University, said, “China has a special political system in which it can force its citizens to follow strict measures. However, this kind of state control and monitoring does not suit other countries.”

Professor Robert Dingwall, public health expert and professor at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom, pointed out that, though the CCP has the capability and resources to force the lockdown of the city and forcibly quarantine individual confirmed patients, that will jeopardize the legitimacy of its rule. Also, locking down streets will have a direct impact on society. Hong Kong citizens stuck in Wuhan told the media in mid-February that the city did not have a sufficient supply of medicine and of food.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Continue reading

Propaganda and Lies: Pompeo Called Yang Jiechi

On March 12, Zhao Lijian, Spokesman & Deputy Director General of the Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused the United States of being the origin of the novel coronavirus, stating, “It might be the US army that brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent!”

On March 16, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of the United States called Yang Jiechi, Director of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He asked that the CCP put a halt to spreading disinformation through its propaganda outlets claiming that the U.S. Army first spread the novel coronavirus in China.

According to a statement that the State Department issued, Secretary Pompeo “conveyed strong U.S. objections to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) efforts to shift blame for COVID-19 to the United States.” “The secretary stressed that this is not the time to spread disinformation and outlandish rumors, but rather a time for all nations to come together to fight this common threat.”

Reuters reported that, according to China’s state-run television, Yang told Mr. Pompeo that any attempt to smear China for its efforts to counter the coronavirus “would not succeed.” The Chinese senior diplomat also threatened unspecified retaliation about what he said were U.S. politicians’ efforts to denigrate China’s efforts to fight the virus.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: Washington Times, March 16, 2020
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/16/us-demands-china-halt-coronavirus-propaganda/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork

Xinhua: China Developed Facial Recognition Even with Masks

Xinhua recently reported that China Railway Science Research Institute just developed a new technology that can perform facial recognition even when the individual wears a regular mask and a helmet. The system will also measure the body temperature at the same time. Many industrial workplaces plan to deploy this new technology to monitor their locations where work resumed. The new technology focuses on characterizing eyes and eyebrows for pattern matching and does not require a hardware change to existing systems. With a large amount of data, current system accuracy reached 99.9 percent. It can also remind workers to wear a helmet if one is not recognized. The new technology development started before the coronavirus was a threat. The Chinese government has deployed a facial recognition monitoring system nationwide. Named Sky Eye, it has run into many issues related to suspects wearing masks to avoid identification. The new system is now improving image resolution for data collection; the goal is to reduce the number of cameras everywhere.

Source: Xinhua, March 11, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2020-03/11/c_1125694796.htm

Propaganda and Lies: President Trump Responded to China’s Accusations

On March 12, Zhao Lijian, Spokesman & Deputy Director General of the Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused the United States of being the origin of the novel coronavirus, stating, “It might be the US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent!”

On March 13, President Trump, at the press conference on Coronavirus, responded to a news reporter’s question regarding this accusation.

Q: Mr. President, the Chinese officials are expressing some tones of discontent with how — where the source of this virus has come from, and they’re spinning some odd narratives.  What are your response to the Chinese officials who are doing that?  And have they signaled any kind of resistance to upcoming trade talks in response to how we’re handling this virus?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, we have our deal with China.  They’re going to be buying $250 billion worth of goods and $50 billion from our farmers.  And that’s a great deal for our country; it’s about time somebody did that.  And, frankly, phase two, we’ll start negotiating.

I did read one article, but I don’t think that article was representative — certainly not of my conversations with President Xi — and they know where it came from.  We all know where it came from.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: White House website, March 13, 2020
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-conference-3/

Justice U.S. Law Firm Filed Class Action Lawsuit against Beijing over Its Role in Coronavirus Pandemic

The Berman Law Group, a law firm in Boca Raton, Florida, filed a class-action lawsuit on March 12, to hold the Chinese government accountable for the deadly coronavirus now sweeping America.

The lawsuit, which names five plaintiffs from Florida, seeks class-action status for any American injured or affected by the coronavirus.

None of the plaintiffs have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the law firm said.

The suit alleges that the Chinese government “knew that COVID-19 was dangerous and capable of causing a pandemic, yet officials acted slowly, proverbially put their heads in the sand, and/or covered it up for their own economic self-interest.”

“No nation, particularly a rich world superpower like China, should be able to get away with what it has done,” said Jeremy Alters, chief strategist at Berman Law Group and father of plaintiff Logan Alters. “It suppressed information from the global medical community that could have averted or minimized the damage that has been done.”

Among other claims, the suit is alleging negligence on the part of the Chinese government and is requesting a jury trial.

While the Chinese government could ignore the suit, a consultant with the Berman Group told reporters there are economic ways to ensure the Chinese government comply with the court process, including targeting various bank accounts and relying on treaties between the U.S. and China.

Sources:
1. Palm Beach Post, March 13, 2020
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20200313/coronavirus-boca-law-firm-sues-chinese-government-over-its-role-in-pandemic

2. CBS, March 13, 2020
https://cbs12.com/news/local/boca-firm-sues-chinese-government-over-handling-of-coronavirus