As people are concerned with the accuracy of the Chinese government’s posting of the death counts from the Coronavirus, an Internet posting calculated that, on average, Wuhan funeral homes incinerated 122 corpses per day before the outbreak of the epidemic. Using the number posted on the Funeral Association website, (administered by the Ministry of Civil Affairs), the article gathered the annual incineration counts from seven funeral houses in Wuhan. The total was 44,400 a year, or 122 per day. Continue reading
Beijing and Shanghai Semi-Locked Down – February 10
As the novel coronavirus has continued to spread in China, Beijing and Shanghai have imposed a semi-lockdown. The lockdown has been imposed at the community level. Only people inside the community can enter or leave the community. Anyone outside cannot enter without official authorization.
About 80 cities in China has imposed either a full lockdown or a community level lockdown.
All four municipalities (cities directly reporting to the central government), including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing, imposed a community level lockdown. Continue reading
Shanghai Situation: Lead Medical Expert Wanted to Go to Hubei
According to China’s official media, Shanghai is relatively stable facing the novel coronavirus challenge. However, netizens have been posting different news items about the severity of the infection in Shanghai. Two pieces of information might give people an inside look into the real situation there:
1. According to Jiefang Daily, the official newspaper of the Shanghai Communist Party Committee, Shanghai established a “Dynamic Health Monitoring System for People Who Came to Shanghai” after January 31, 2020. By February 7, total of 1.68 million people had registered with the system, including 360,000 people who registered on February 7. This would mean the Shanghai government and health officials are monitoring at least 1.68 million people.
2. Youth Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League Shanghai Committee, reported that when Shanghai was collecting doctor’s names as its fourth patch to go to Hubei province on February 8, Zhang Wenhong, the head of Shanghai Medical Treatment Expert Group (to fight the novel coronavirus), expressed his desire to go to Wuhan. There were many WeChat discussions because the people of Shanghai were afraid when they heard that their lead medical expert wanted to leave Shanghai. Continue reading
After Beijing Accused US over Evacuation, Two Foreigners Died from nCoV
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on Monday February 10 that two foreign citizens died from the coronavirus.
During last week’s routine press briefings, Hua Chunying, foreign ministry spokeswoman, accused the United States of “unceasingly manufacturing and spreading panic” by pulling its nationals out of China and restricting travel while not providing “any substantial assistance to China.”
In making public her negative assessment of the US position and its decisions as “setting a very bad example,” the spokeswoman did not appear to attach any weight to favorable comments that US officials made previously about China’s containing the coronavirus. On the other hand, Chinese state-run media had taken these favorable comments from foreign leaders as serious evidence to convince the Chinese people that the government is doing a superb job.
Publicly airing such unfriendly views toward the Trump administration also undercut what Xi Jingping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, had previously boasted, namely that China and the US have successfully managed their differences. Xi made the observation in a letter to President Donald Trump, which Vice Premier Li He read out loud at the January 15 ceremony for the signing the phase one trade deal between the two countries.
Hua stated that, since January 3, 2020, China had provided 30 briefings on the novel coronavirus devleopments in China to US health officials .
There was an outcry over Chinese social media that the Chinese people were kept in the dark until January 20, 2002. Worse, January 3 turned out to be the day when China Central Television (CCTV), China’s state-run television station, broadcast nationally, how eight people in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, were reprimanded because the police had stopped all public discussion of the coronavirus cases thathad started to appear. Dr Li Wenliang, who died on the night of February 6 was among the eight people that CCTV humiliated.
On the other hand, some Chinese noted that the US could very well have been misled in those 30 briefings that Hua mentioned, just as the Chinese people were. Continue reading
Russia Quarantines Chinese Diplomat as Coronavirus Precaution
The Interfax news agency reported on Monday that Russian authorities have quarantined a Chinese diplomat as a safety precaution against the coronavirus outbreak, .
Consul General Cui Shaochun arrived in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Thursday to take up his new post. Russian foreign ministry official Alexander Kharlov was quoted as saying that he should stay at home for two weeks (the incubation period), .
Source: US News & World Report, February 20, 2020
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-02-10/russia-quarantines-chinese-diplomat-as-coronavirus-precaution-interfax
CCP Loyalist Warns Chinese Students in Germany Not to Commemorate Wuhan Physician
Students in Berlin, Germany were gathering at Brandenburg Gate on February 9, 2020, to commemorate Dr. Li Wenliang, a physician in Wuhan, China who passed away two days earlier. Over a month ago, Li broke the news that a new type of coronavirus had infected patients, but the police then penalized him. On January 3, China Central Television (CCTV), Beijing’s state-run television, broadcast the news that the Wuhan police had reprimanded Li. He was among eight people who alerted others about the virus on social media.
One student, loyal to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), issued a warning to other Chinese students who might attend the gathering. The person cried out, “Ab-so-lute-ly NO participation! This is a critical moment, everyone must exercise caution. Some murky forces are trying to make the most out of [the death of] Dr. Li. I have verified that the organizers have an anti-China background. Please spread the word. Don’t let those with ulterior motives take advantage of this occasion. To commemorate Li Wenliang is only an excuse. To make bloody gains out of the doctor’s death is what they want.”
It is apparent that this person (making this statement) has resources at his disposal to enable him to gather information about or keep dossiers on the event’s organizers.
Meanwhile, within China, given the outpouring of public grief and anger, People’s Daily, the CCP official newspaper, took the opposite approach of actively facilitating favorable actions taken regarding Dr. Li. The People’s Daily commentator cheered when a special team was dispatched to Wuhan to investigate any wrongs that was carried out against Dr. Li. Continue reading
Chinese Mobile Phone Manufacturers Jointly Build Google Play Competitor
Chinese technology news site My Drivers recently reported that four major Chinese mobile phone vendors, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, jointly formed a platform named Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA). The new alliance was established with an aim to compete against Google Play, which is Google’s online flagship app store. GDSA is to combine services for app development, marketing, distribution, and monetization for markets outside China. So far, the alliance covers nine regions including India, Indonesia, Russia, and Malaysia. Huawei will utilize the new platform for the European market. The platform planned to go live in March. However, it has been postponed due to the Coronavirus situation. All four vendors refused to comment on the news. Since Google revoked Huawei’s Android license, Huawei mobile phones are not able to use Google Play. Huawei has been developing an App Gallery as a replacement, but it has been difficult for a single vendor to combat Google’s market dominance. By the end of 2019, Chinese mobile phone vendors held 40 percent of the global handset market.
Source: My Drivers, February 7, 2020
https://news.mydrivers.com/1/671/671019.htm
Coronavirus Outbreak Hits Real Estate Market Hard
Sina.com reported that real estate in China has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. Expectations that people would buy real estate when returning home for the Chinese New Year did not materialize. Statistics show a difference for the period from late January to early February when compared to the same period in previous years. The new home transaction volume of most real estate developers dropped 95 percent and the market has basically fallen to the freezing point.
As a result of the coronavirus outbreak as well as the Chinese New year, in 18 major metropolitan arias, transactions for existing houses fell 38 percent compared to the previous month.
The housing market also suffered from the suspension of construction and sales. On January 26, the China Real Estate Industry Association called for “real estate development enterprises to suspend sales activities temporarily at sales offices and to resume after the epidemic is over.”
Experts believe that this will undoubtedly increase the cash flow pressure on small and medium-sized real estate companies and that some may not receive any investments.
The suspension of construction will inevitably have a direct negative impact on investments inreal estate developments. Due to the quarantine measures, residents’ enthusiasm for house purchases has dropped significantly. Sales are expected to stagnate and short-term inventory will increase. Until the outbreak is fully under control, real estate developments and sales will continue to be hit hard and the recovery will be subject to how quickly the outbreak is controlled.
Source: Sina.com, February 5, 2020
http://news.dichan.sina.com.cn/2020/02/05/1270453.html