News around the world has blacked out. Everything is about this new virus that should be called the “pneumoniavirus”, also known as Wuhan’s 2019-nCoV, everything—the news, the politics, the economy, the maps, organ harvesting. But, that wasn’t the only Western bad news on China. Canada had a brilliant solution to the Huawei controversy: go public. So far that hasn’t happened. But, Indonesia is buying American F-35s.
As the world goes into panic mode over a glorified common cold, death by economy will be greater than death by disease. People are afraid because people are afraid. Once they freak-out to full-freak capacity, they will look for someone to blame for all their fear. That takes us to China.
China doesn’t like being the villain of the world. The Chinese Communist Party doesn’t like looking bad. Who does? Most of that bad image throughout the world—including among the Chinese people themselves—comes from unedited videos of what the Chinese Communist government is doing to its own citizens. Other than uncut videos, people are irritated by reports of signs of organ harvesting along with appointing Communist Party bosses to new leadership positions also hurts China’s image, both foreign and domestic.
Then, China blames the US Army—not the military, not the Marines, Navy, Air Force, nor Space Force, and not something more sensible like CIA. A Chinese official said that the US Army took the virus to China. A video is going viral in East Asia of Congressman Harley Rouda at a House Oversight Committee hearing questioning CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, “So, we could have people in the United States dying from what appears to be influenza, when in fact it could be the coronavirus or COVOID-19?” to which the director responds, “Some cases have been actually diagnosed that way in the United States to date.” And, this is being used in China, and even among the Taiwanese, to argue that the pneumoniavirus existed in the United States long ago, wasn’t noticed because it was misdiagnosed long ago, but the US Army then took the virus to China. Chinese speakers easily misunderstand because they don’t know how democracy works. They believe this proves the pneumoniavirus originated in the US, even though there haven’t been any epidemics of death-by-pneumonia in the US since the bacterial pneumonia epidemic of 1918.
As things progress, China is being pushed to the point of acting on an ancient psychotic belief that all of China’s problems exist because China doesn’t control Taiwan. If the Chinese PLA military attacks Taiwan, however, they won’t be strong enough to deal with their own dissent at home. If China doesn’t invade Taiwan, it is because the Communist Party has been rendered catatonic, not knowing what to do.
Great Pacific
Chinese refuse protective clothing for Taiwanese evacuees, 30 rejected // Taiwan News
Trade & Tech
Canada to Huawei: do an IPO with us // SCMP
China
English Catholics implore Vatican: ‘Tear up’ deal with Communist China // LifeSite
Flashback…
China is harvesting organs from detainees, tribunal concludes // Guardian
As the rest of the world shuts down, China is ramping up // Sydney Morning Herald
Is Coronavirus Increasing Organ Harvesting in China? // Bitter Winter
Chinese Tycoon Who Criticized Xi’s Response to Coronavirus Has Vanished // NY Times
Chinese official says US Army may have brought coronavirus to Wuhan // Business Insider
Photo of the Day: China’s ‘lonely dictator’ // Taiwan News
A coronavirus lesson from China: don’t make patients pay for tests and treatment // SCMP
New US bill could ban imported Chinese goods amid Xinjiang forced labor concerns // CNN
Over 100 Builders Go Bust in China as Virus Strains Deepen // Bloomberg
A cough, a coronavirus check and why a passenger had to be subdued on a plane in China // SCMP
The Peace Corps Breaks Ties with China // New Yorker
Taiwan
Johns Hopkins restores Taiwan on map, adds asterisk // Taiwan News
Lessons Learned From Taiwan’s Response to Coronavirus | Best Countries // US News
What Taiwan can teach the world on fighting the coronavirus // NBC News
Taiwan inmates volunteer to join the battle against coronavirus // Gulf News
Egypt ‘likely source’ of coronavirus in Taiwan patient: doctors // Aljazeera
Beijing fails to congratulate Taiwan KMT’s new chairman // Taiwan News
Taipei seems to have the virus in hand. Now I worry about returning to the UK // Guardian
Hong Kong
Hong Kong protests: anger after reporter knocked down during police dispersal operation // SCMP
Unemployment in Hong Kong soars, leaving workers from all walks of life struggling // SCMP
Military Faceoff