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Leadership: China Sets Date for the “Lianghui” (“Two Conferences”)

The “Lianghui,” or “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 have reviewed and approved of the work of the central or local government and they make decisions on the personnel in the committees of the People’s Congress and the People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Traditionally, the national level of the “lianghui” takes places in Beijing in early March, with each conference running for over ten days. However, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, Beijing postponed it.

On April 29, Beijing announced it would hold the National People’s Congress on May 22 and the National People’s Political Consultative Conference on May 21. The duration of each conference will be shortened, but the details have not been announced.

The local “lianghui,” mainly the municipal level and then the provincial level of the two conferences should take place before the national conferences. Some provinces have completed their meetings already, including Hubei Province which met in the middle of January. Other local governments will probably need to hold their conferences soon.

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Propaganda and Lies: Xinhua Said Coronavirus Started in January or Possibly Even December in the U.S.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently started a new wave of claiming the U.S. was the origin of the coronavirus.

This was not the first time that the CCP made such an attempt. The last wave was initiated when the Spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, claimed that American soldiers brought it to Wuhan. President Trump and other U.S. officials seriously and furiously rejected China’s blame. Then the CCP was quiet for a while.

On April 26, Xinhua published an International Commentary:

“The recent report from the Public Health Department of Santa Clara County in California showed that people there died from the novel coronavirus as early as February 6. That was more than 20 days earlier than the first coronavirus death that the U.S. announced publicly. Since that patient didn’t travel to other countries, this discovery means that the infection in that society might have already taken place in early or mid-January.

“On March 11, Robert Redfield, Director of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), admitted at a Congressional hearing that there were cases of deaths from the novel coronavirus being mistaken for deaths from influenza.

“In fact, a clear picture of the timeline of the coronavirus outbreaks in the U.S. has always been missing. The California report shows that the U.S. might have had infections in society as early as January, but that could just be the tip of the iceberg. California Governor Newsom has announced an autopsy would be conducted on deaths since last December that were suspected of being caused by the novel coronavirus. People are waiting to see what new findings this may lead to.”

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Propaganda and Lies: China Started a New Round of Blaming the U.S. as the Origin of Coronavirus

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently started a new wave of claims against the U.S. as the origin of the coronavirus.

This was not the first time that the CCP made such an attempt. The last wave was initiated by China’s Foreign Minister Spokesperson Zhao Lijian who claimed that American soldiers brought the coronavirus to Wuhan. President Trump and other U.S. officials seriously and furiously rejected China’s blame.

On March 31, The U.S. Department of State spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stated that Xi Jinping, in his conversation with President Trump on March 26, promised to control the Chinese side to keep it from blaming the U.S. China has since been quiet. (#1: Radio France International)

However, on April 23, China started the accusations again.

At a news briefing of the Joint Prevention and Join Control of the Coronavirus Mechanism of the State Council, a reporter asked Shi Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences:

“Recently, foreign media reported that the U.S. military restarted the Fort Detrick Biochemical Research Laboratory in Maryland. Many local people began to flee when they got the news. Some people in the U.S. believe that there is multiple evidence indicating that the shutting down of the Fort Detrick lab in August last year was very suspicious. They suspect that the base may be the source of the novel coronavirus and caused the influenza pandemic in the fall and winter in the U.S. Then the virus mutated after American soldiers participating in the Wuhan Military Games brought it over to China and spread it in China. How do you view this issue?”

Shi Yi replied, “We have noticed relevant information on the Internet. Some people in the U.S. suspect that the Fort Detrick lab may be the source of the novel coronavirus. The U.S. has not provided a response publicly yet and we have no way to make a judgment.” (#2: China News Service)

Many Chinese media, including China Central Television (CCTV) and the government’s official site reported this Q&A. (#3: CCTV and #4: China’s Government Site)

Radio Free Asia commented that this was a well-arranged Q&A. A news reporter from an official media read a lengthy paragraph stating a prepared question (which was a statement rather than a question, which was a mixture of truth and misinformation). Then Shi Yi read back the prepared answer. In fact, the Fort Detrick lab was closed in July of last year due to the failure of the steam sterilization equipment; it now has a new wastewater treatment system. (#5: Radio Free Asia)

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Justice: Argentine Attorney Filed First Criminal Lawsuit against China; Nigerian Attorney Sued China

#1: On April 16, attorney Alejandro Sánchez Kalbermatten of Argentina filed a criminal lawsuit against China in Argentina’s Criminal and Correctional Court 12. Kalbermatten Sued China for genocide through intentionally concealing the information about the coronavirus.

Kalbermatten is seeking, under the criminal investigation framework, to find out the origin of the coronavirus, who should be responsible, why it happened, for what geo-political purpose, as well as whether the deaths and crises that this global pandemic has caused constitute genocide or crimes against humanity. These crimes should be investigated and tried by the International Criminal Court in accordance with the Rome Statute.

This is the first criminal case against the communist regime in China regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

Kalbermatten also plans a class action lawsuit against China. He expressed that the World Health Organization (WHO) was also responsible for this pandemic. (Epoch Times)

#2: A coalition of Nigerian lawyers filed a lawsuit against China. They are demanding $200 billion in damages for the “loss of lives, economic strangulation, trauma, hardship, social disorientation, mental torture, and disruption of the normal daily existence of the people in Nigeria.” The lead attorney is Prof. Epiphany Azinge of the law firm Azinge and Azinge.

Azinge is currently a member of the Commonwealth Arbitral Tribunal in London, representing Nigeria and Africa. (Daily Post)

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Leadership: China’s Secret Service Is Monitoring Top Leader of Each Party and Government Organ

Radio Free Asia reported that, after the taking down of Sun Lijun, the Deputy Minister of Public Security, Xi Jinping’s followers held three emergency meetings: an emergency meeting of the Ministry of Public Security on April 20, an emergency meeting of the Secret Service Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security on April 21, and an emergency meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Political and Legal Affairs Commission on April 22.

At the Secret Service Bureau’s meeting, Wang Xiaohong, Executive Deputy Minister of Public Security and Director of the Secret Service Bureau stated, “(We) must increase the monitoring of the ‘top leaders’ decision-making power, staff appointment power, and financial approval power, to let the ‘top leaders’ get used to working and living under monitoring.”

The Secret Service Bureau, when established in May of last year, was designed to provide security protection for “Four ‘Deputies’ and Two ‘Supremes’” – the Vice President, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Vice Chairmen of the National People’s Congress, the Vice Chairmen of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the President of the Supreme Court, and the President of the Supreme Procuratorate.

The four number-one persons (President, Premier, Chairman of the National People’s Congress, and Chairman of the CPPCC) are members of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee. The Central Security Bureau provides the security protection for all seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee and for retired top CCP leaders.

However, Wang Xiaohong’s mentioning of the ‘top leader’ might indicate that the Secret Service Bureau has been expanded to monitor the head of each of the CCP Central Committee’s organs and the head of national, ministerial, and provincial governments, such as Provincial Party Secretaries, Ministers, and Ministerial Party Secretaries, etc.

At the emergency meeting, Wang also hinted that it was the Secret Service Bureau that arrested Sun Lijun.

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World Against the CCP: A Survey Showed 82 Percent of Chinese Netizens Chose to Support the U.S.

On April 3, a Chinese language media New Highland Vision conducted an online survey, with the question: “If the United States wanted to take down the communist regime in China, in case of a war, would you support the American army or the communist army?” It asked only Chinese to take the survey. 81.8 percent of people chose to support the U.S.; 7.7 percent chose to support the communist regime; and 10.5 percent chose to be neutral.

Previously, New Highland Vision had also done another survey of Chinese readers: “After the pandemic, the U.S. will for sure ask China to pay for damages, but China does not have money to pay for them. If the Chinese government proposes to give up certain land as the compensation, do you want to give your homeland to the U.S.?” 84.1 percent of Chinese readers chose Yes; 10.9 percent chose No; and 4.9 percent chose “hard to say.”

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World Against the CCP: Survey Showed Two-Thirds of Americans View CCP Negatively

#1: Recently, Pew Research Center conducted a survey of Americans on their opinion of China. The results showed that 66 percent of people have negative views, including 62 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 72 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. 26 percent of people report a favorable attitude. This is the highest percentage of negative views recorded since the Pew Research Center began asking the question in 2005.

About nine-in-ten U.S. adults see China’s power and influence as a threat – including 62 percent who say it is a major threat. While the total portion that sees China’s power and influence as a threat has not changed significantly since the question was last asked in 2018, the share perceiving China as a major threat has increased 14 percentage points since 2018. (Pew Research)

#2: Between April 3 and April 5, the Harris Poll conducted a survey online of 1,993 people around the U.S. Only 23 percent of those people surveyed said that Xi Jinping was a trustworthy source of information related to the covid-19 outbreak, with Republicans and Democrats sharing the same view. The White House and the U.S. media rated 53 and 60 percent in trustworthiness, respectively, with Republicans tending to support the former and Democrats the latter.

Ninety percent of Republicans said the Chinese government is responsible for the spread of the virus, compared to 67 percent of Democrats.

While 71 percent of Republicans responded that China should pay other countries in some way for the damage done because of the outbreak, only 41 percent of Democrats felt that way.

A firm majority of Republicans, 66 percent, said Trump should take an even tougher position on China than he currently does. Among Democrats, 38 percent said Trump should be tougher, 23 percent said he should be softer and 38 percent said he has it about right. (Washington Post)

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1. Source: Pew Research, April 21, 2020

U.S. Views of China Increasingly Negative Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

2. Source: Washington Post, April 8, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/08/coronavirus-crisis-is-turning-americans-both-parties-against-china/

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Leadership: Xi Jinping Visited Qinling

From April 20 to April 23, Xi Jinping visited Shaanxi Province. One of his stops was Qinling (also called the Qin Mountains), a major east-west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province. Several overseas Chinese media gave an analysis of why Xi went to Qinling. The New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) gave the most in-depth explanation, including three possible reasons:

1. Qinling was considered the Dragon Vein (龙脉) of the Chinese civilization. Dragon Vein is a Fengshui term. It can impact the prosperity of the current ruler. Damages to or suppression of the Dragon Vein can hurt the ruler. Though Xi is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which promotes atheism, Xi himself still believes in certain Fengshui and traditional Chinese culture. Shaanxi and Qinling have brought blessings to Xi Jinping and his father. Xi’s father started his CCP official career in Shaanxi and Xi stayed at Xi’an, Shaanxi for seven years.

Unfortunately, in the past decade, officials in Shaanxi Province built many luxury villas on Qinling which could be viewed as damaging or suppressing the Dragon Vein. Despite Xi having given instructions six times to demolish those illegal buildings, the local officials took no action. It was not until July 2018, when Xi sent Xu Lingyi, Deputy Secretary of the CCP Central Commission on Disciplinary Inspection, to Shaanxi that many officials in Shaanxi were taken down and those villas were demolished.

2. Giving the ongoing infighting among the party leaders, Xi may want to use the Qinling villa story to remind others that he was able to take down those who did not follow his orders.

3. Xi mentioned “the spirit of westward migration” at Shaanxi. He could hint that he can retreat to Shaanxi if he can no longer control Beijing. He may have taken this trip to check and see if everything was ready should he retreat.

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