The Associated Press is reporting that a Department of Homeland Security report has asserted that the Chinese authorities deliberately downplayed how contagious and severe SARS-CoV-2 was in early to mid-January so that they could hoard the supplies needed to deal with the disease:
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials believe China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak — and how contagious the disease is — to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show.
Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity†of the pandemic from the world in early January, according to a four-page Department of Homeland Security intelligence report dated May 1 and obtained by The Associated Press. The revelation comes as the Trump administration has intensified its criticism of China, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying Sunday that that country was responsible for the spread of disease and must be held accountable.
and
Not classified but marked “for official use only,†the DHS analysis states that, while downplaying the severity of the coronavirus, China increased imports and decreased exports of medical supplies. It attempted to cover up doing so by “denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data,†the analysis states.
The report also says China held off informing the World Health Organization that the coronavirus “was a contagion†for much of January so it could order medical supplies from abroad — and that its imports of face masks and surgical gowns and gloves increased sharply.
Those conclusions are based on the 95% probability that China’s changes in imports and export behavior were not within normal range, according to the report.
On the one hand I think we need to reserve judgment a bit. A report of a report of a conclusion based on indirect evidence and motive is not exactly a “smoking gun”. On the other I think that the Chinese authorities are guilty of capital crimes at enormous scale and need to be held accountable for their malfeasance.
I think the only practical way to accomplish that is through ostracization and enlisting the support of other countries to do the same. We just need to rally the support of the other major economies. Perhaps the Trump Administration can rise to the occasion but persuasion and rallying the reluctant to their cause has not exactly been among their strong suits.
‘Perhaps the Trump Administration can rise to the occasion but persuasion and rallying the reluctant to their cause has not exactly been among their strong suits.’
At this moment in time Satan in all his glory could show up and start hauling people down to hell screaming in agony and the MSM and the TDS crew would rise up in the Devil’s support if POTUS said we should fight him. It’s been that way since the 2016 election. Opposing China isn’t exactly new to Trump, he’s been bitching about it for over a decade. The only way to stop the Han Empire is to overthrow the current regime. That’s in the hands of their Politburo. Hurt them enough on trade and they’ll turn on Xi. That will only happen if Trump is reelected.
I don’t think so or, more specifically, I think they’re more likely to turn inwards and retain power through cracking down internally than they are to liberalize.
That may be correct, Dave, but it doesn’t change the prescription: end this globalism crap and reliance on some of the world’s worst actors.
I’m willing to put American citizens interests before Chinese citizens interests.
Preaching to the choir. I thought granting China MFN was a huge mistake.
I am getting fearful that articles like this (without substantial proof) could make the tensions go “hotâ€.
All we can say for sure is the CCP did not reveal the seriousness of the coronavirus for 3 weeks in January. And their foreign ministry has thought this is the best time for “wolf diplomacyâ€.
Everything else; that it was a lab accident; they did it to hoard supplies; there is no proof for the extraordinary claims. As the article notes –
“There is no public evidence to suggest it was an intentional plot to buy up the world’s medical supplies.â€
Making accusations the US government cannot back up is the surest way to lose credibility.
So we risk “going hot” with our only supplier of generic meds And PPE? China’s holding the bigger stick, we’d better mind our manners.
Our top sources of generics are China, India, Mexico with China and India being roughly equivalent (by volume) and Mexico about half that. We don’t know how much of the active ingredients Indian pharmaceutical companies use for making their generics are from China.