Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The global anger at China’s lies, coverups and incompetence in response to Covid-19 has delivered its first fruit; nations are putting global pandemic safety ahead of China’s sensitivity to any kind of international recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation.
WHO Becomes Battleground as Trump Chooses Pandemic Confrontation Over Cooperation
Critics say fighting the coronavirus has become secondary as U.S. seeks to hamstring the World Health Organization, turning it into a 2020 election issue along with Chinese trade.
BY COLUM LYNCH APRIL 29, 2020, 1:31 PM
The Trump administration is seeking to enlist the support of key allies to restore Taiwan’s status as an observer at the World Health Organization, setting the stage for a fresh confrontation with China as the world struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic, according to diplomatic sources and notes of internal meetings at the global health agency.
The United States and Japan are asking key like-minded nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, to co-sign a draft letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, requesting he invite the Taiwanese delegation to the World Health Assembly, the United Nations health agency’s key decision-making body, which is expected to meet virtually in mid-May.
The WHO initiative has a limited chance of success since nothing irks Beijing more than support for Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, and China is likely to retaliate against any move by Tedros or by other governments to include Taiwan in deliberations on public health. But the Trump administration’s bid provides the latest sign that Washington is placing a higher priority on eliciting criticism of China, its chief geostrategic adversary, than exploring ways the two superpowers, or other governments for that matter, could collaborate in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
…
Read more: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/29/world-health-organization-who-battleground-trump-taiwan-china/
Australia signalled their support, joining the USA and Japan.
ROC was ejected from the WHO in 1971, over US objections, when the majority of nations embraced Communist China as the sole representative of China and Taiwan.
Although the WHO has done a pitiful job of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, with its poor advice and criticism of travel restrictions, it is utterly unreasonable to exclude Taiwan from observer membership of a body whose purpose is to keep the world safe from future pandemics.
By continuing to oppose Taiwanese participation in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak, and Communist China’s useless response to the outbreak, the CCP is demonstrating they haven’t learned anything; they still believe their own selfish geopolitical objectives are more important than the wellbeing of the Taiwanese people and the rest of the world.
Why wound anyone want to be part of the the Worthless Health Organization? The democratic nations should form their own health co-op and leave the dictatorships to fend for themselves.
Love that Taiwanese flag. I wonder how they thought of the colors red, white, and blue?
That flag was the official flag of China long before WW II. Americans in the AVG (“Flying Tigers”) wore it on the back of their flight jackets so as to identify themselves as friendly if shot down.
When adopted by the RoC in 1928, it was modelled on the US flag, with a blue field, but without white stripes, and with a white sun rather than 48 stars.
In the RoC, the colors represent blue sky, white sun and red earth.
Absolutely! Treating oppressive regimes as if they are like all the free nations of the world with representative governments only enables their continued misbehavior.
You don’t reward your children for bad behavior. Respect is earned by good deeds, not handed out like candy in the misguided hope that it will encourage good behavior.
Conferring “most favored nation” status on China while they were busy invading sovereign nations, aggressively claiming territory in the South China Sea, stealing technology from the U.S. and sending their own people to concentration camps was a monumental misjudgment.
It was The Globalist plan to use China to send all the factories closed in the West , in their strategy to usher in their Agenda 2030 Dystopic New World Order of Lords and Serfs .
Not much chance of China letting this go through but it looks like a set up for Ghebreyesus. He’s going to have to ask China, they’ll refuse then Trump can say : ” There, I told you WHO is corrupt and lackeys of China”. He will them probably call for Ghebreyesus to resign.
The USA needs to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation. That’ll really irk the ChiComs.
+42×1042
Not just the USA, the entire world. North Korea is recognized but it’s hardly more than a semi-autonomous province or vassal state of the CCP.
Senior WHO adviser appears to dodge question on Taiwan’s Covid-19 response
On Friday Hong Kong’s RTHK interviewed Dr Bruce Aylward, a Canadian physician and epidemiologist, and former assistant director-general at the WHO, who is now a senior advisor there.
The interview, conducted via video-link, was about international responses to the pandemic, and in particular Taiwan’s, where they have recorded a low rate of infection and low rate of fatalities.
Asked by the RTHK reporter, Yvonne Tong, if the WHO would reconsider Taiwan’s membership, Aylward didn’t respond for several seconds, before saying he couldn’t hear the question.
Tong offered to repeat it but he cut in: “no, that’s OK, let’ move to another one then.”
“I’m actually curious to talk about Taiwan as well,” Tong said.
Aylward then appeared to either hang up the call, or get disconnected. RTHK called Aylward back, and Tong asked if he could comment “on how Taiwan has done so far in terms of containing the virus”.
Aylward responded: “Well, we’ve already talked about China. And when you look across all the different areas of China, they’ve actually all done quite a good job.”
“With that I’d like to thank you very much for inviting us to participate,” he said, ending the conversation.
Looks pretty bad for the objectivity of the WHO.
Jeff,
The WHO is not remotely objective. If they were, they would never, ever have selected Tedros as the head. He’s not even a doctor. China pushed and pushed hard for him. He is wholly owned by China who, compared to the US donates a pittance to the WHO. For God’s sake, Tedros appointed Mugabe, yes, that Mugabe, to be a goodwill ambassador for the WHO. Even the Lefty nations couldn’t stomach that.
Tedros Lied, People Died: Why Trump’s Right to End W.H.O. Funding
The World Health Organization’s pro-Chinese Communist Party cover-up was so blatant that even the left-wing Wired magazine had to eat crow over it.
https://bit.ly/2XG1qoS
Who is WHO’s Tedros Adhanom?
https://sgtreport.com/2020/02/who-is-whos-tedros-adhanom/
World’s doctor gives WHO a headache
https://www.politico.eu/article/tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-gives-who-a-headache/
Totally agree Taz. It’s just another piece of evidence against them.
“The USA needs to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation”
The U.S. should launch a public relations campaign to free Tibet from Chinese slavery. That would irk them even more.
I hear the Chinese leadership hates to be criticized. I have a feeling they are going to be getting plenty of well-deserved criticism in the future.
I totally agree.
The Taiwan people are free and do no want to be part of China.
China has enough people and has already gobbled up Tibet using force.
China is too large now. There should be four or five countries, all of them different, where there is one monster country that is trying to take over the world.
If China didn’t go the communist route, it’s PPP per Capita would be ~3 times larger, just like Taiwan.
Communists never learn.
If it wasn’t for stupid leftists in America, America would have focused on breaking up China into 7 pieces long ago, much to both of our benefit. Not unlike the USSR strategy.
And don’t forget some wisdom:
http://phzoe.com/2020/04/29/the-irrelevance-of-geothermal-heat-flux/
You are a funny person Zoe. Just a few clicks on the computer will give you a quick overview of Chinese history. Do you think the Chinese Communist Party appeared out of nowhere like mushrooms? Do you understand why they had popular support?
Countries are where they are because of previous stuff. If you can’t be bothered casting even a cursory glance at history you will sound like a 14-year-old who knows everything and has the answers to everything.
No, I’m not a commie and I don’t support the system they have in China.
Did you know that Chinese Nationalists & Republicans also had popular support?
But they lost the war. They fled to Taiwan. Taiwanese are ~3 times richer.
If CCP didn’t win, China would have been better off, especially during the 30 tragic years the communists tried their stupid communist economics theories.
What do you not understand?
The Chinese government killed tens of millions of their own people since 1949 with brain dead policies one after the other.
I always imagined that is why the left still loves them even though they are more capitalist than communist now.
They were into people culls before it was a “cool” left policy.
Agree. A cruel system similar to the USSR. Completely idiotic policies that were fatal.
60 Million died from Mao’s Great Leap Forward and related policies! See The Black Book of Communism. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674076082
Pat,
Only their economy is capitalist and, even that, is questionable. The rest of their policies are Communist Totalitarianism and Pure Evil and it’s gotten much, much worse since Xi was chosen. He is now Leader for Life or, until someone knocks him off.
KcTaz – They aren’t capitalist. A system like China’s that allows “private enterprise” under total government control is known as Fascist. The CCP should in fact be the CFP.
China’s economy is mercantilist, with national socialist elements.
Portions of the their economy have been opened up to allow private businesses.
The problem is that this opening has been limited to small family owned enterprises. Try to get any bigger than that and you run into the buzz saw of the party and it’s corrupt minions.
I guess you are trying to write an alternative history novel. Shoulda, coulda. I live in the real world and deal with what is, rather than what could have been. Americans should have broken China into 7 pieces? Further fantastic possible history. Didn’t happen, wasn’t even remotely possible.
You claim to know Chinese history so well, and yet you missed the reference to the 7 warring kingdoms. Why would you walk into a trap like that?
Have you ever even been to China?
Are you familiar with the SEVEN main languages of china?
Ti tupoy mudak – comprende?
Zoe
I did not claim to know Chinese history well. I just seem to know more about it than you.
You call that, a trap? It’s common knowledge that China was full of warlords. Not just seven of them
Born In China. Russian parentage. Went to Australia when 3 years old.
Lived in China for 14 years from 2004. I didn’t mix with foreigners, most of the ones I met seemed to have mental health issues.
There are 56 ethnic groups in China. Most have their own language/dialect.
Your last comment shows you have class. I might suggest you keep your insult in one language.
“There are 56 ethnic groups in China.”
Only bolsters my argument.
“most of the ones I met seemed to have mental health issues.”
That says a lot … about you, most others would suspect.
Zittu
Mods, Zoe Phin, replying to Alex used latin characters “Ti tupoy mudak – comprende?” from Russian
“Ты тупой мудак”
Which means “You are an a$$но1е” Even in English his posts are constantly ad hominem laced. Certainly a warning is due.
Replying to Zoe is a trap. Don’t click on the link above. CommieBob and I went there for a look-see and it is a logic-free zone. The “cleverly hidden” insult above is the only evidence of the agenda there: insults with no discernable purpose or value.
Crispin believes you can’t cook food because the top of the pan will only get as hot as the room temperature, and this will establish the limit of conductive heat flux from the hot fire below the pan.
Cold determines heat flux, not hot!
He’s upset that I insulted his idea, therefore I have ‘no logic’, according to him. That’s not an insult to me, is it?
True, China wasn’t divided in seven after WWII, but it was surely possible.
Stalin actually didn’t want Mao to conquer all of China. He feared competition for leadership of international Communism. The USSR had supported the Kuomintang before. Stalin would have been OK with, and maybe even preferred the Nationalists to hold onto South China. In that case, he might have set up a Uyghuristan SSR in Sinkiang, and expanded his puppet state of Outer Mongolia into Inner.
Under these reduced conditions, the CPC couldn’t have taken Tibet, even with the British Empire gone from India. So seven is about right: Red North China, Nationalist South China, Tibet, Uyghuristan, Mongolia, Hong Kong and Macau.
Had the US not been war weary and the Truman Administration riddled with Reds, Chiang could have held onto at least the coast, from Shanghai to Canton. American Naval and Army air power, with minimal (Marine and some USAF) ground forces, could have kept Mao’s peasant PLA from overruning the big, rich cities. Stalin might even have gone along with that situation, as above.
Unfortunately, Truman hated the Navy and Marine Corps. The capabilities of USN carrier air groups (Bearcat CAP interceptor and escort fighter, Corsair and Hellcat fighter-bombers, Avenger level bomber and Skyraider attack plane) then was practically off-world. Not to mention the USAAF’s strategic (from Japan) and tactical (in China) strengths. Only with its Tupolev-copied B-29 and MiG-15 did the USSR stand a chance in the air, as in Korea.
“Do you understand why they had popular support?”
They didn’t have popular support until communists in the US government helped Mao to power by refusing to support Chiang when he was about to wipe out Mao and his little mob of bandits. After that, well, the people had about as much choice in supporting Mao as there is today in North Korean for clapping for Rocket Man when he comes to visit.
I see. Support from US communists when the Japanese had overrun China. Neat trick.
If I was an uneducated Chinese peasant/serf that couldn’t keep my family fed or clothed and was getting deeper into debt each year, I probably would have joined Mao. At least he promised freedom and food.
Things turned out differently in the end. You make decisions based on the situation at the time.
“he promised freedom and food.”
He lied, like all communists do – except when they say they want to rule over everyone else.
Interested Observer
That’s what I said. Just putting a human touch on it . What would you have done in that situation? Village destroyed by Japanese, wife r*ped and k*lled, no help from the government. Someone hands you a gun and says follow me.
What happened after that is another story.
The situation at the time was that Stalin offered help when no one else would. They were not particularly interested in a communist revolution, just like the overthrow of the Czar in Moscow. That was a popular uprising, not a communist revolution, which happened in the October coup 6 months later. Mao did what he did to lift the oppressive yoke. The assistance came with strings and ideology. Those were the days, my friend. The opportunity was lost and now, “taste ye what your hands have wrought”. It is not going to be pleasant.
Oh, and check the latest video by Tony Heller discussing the lockdown(s).
Looks like Alex is the one trying to rewrite history.
We are quite clearly referring to the post war period.
MarkG, do you have any links to support that? I’m not arguing with you as I have no idea if you are correct or, not. I’d just like more information.
Thanks.
Of the many Soviet agents and fellow travelers in the FDR and Truman Administrations, two who had the worst effect on China policy were Communist sympathizer Owen Lattimore and spy Lachlin Currie.
The Communists won the civil war because they lied, saying they were going to give land to poor peasants, who believed them. Chiang was crooked, but unwilling to make the same promise, since succesful farmers and land-owners supported him.
The USSR also backed the Commies, starting with handing over surrendered Japanese arms in Manchuria.
Stalin actually would have been OK with the Kuomintang’s holding on to south China, since he feared a united Red China as a rival for leadership of world Communism. But Mao was bent on total domination.
Truman was unwilling to use US air and naval power to prop up Chiang. America was rapidly demobilizing. We ended up fighting the Red Air Force in Korea anyway. At the very least, US support could have allowed the Nationalists to hang onto rich coastal enclaves, especially Canton and Shanghai, plus Hainan Island. Thus Hong Kong could have joined the RoC rather than PRC.
Comparing and contrasting the RoC and PRC today, and looking at Red China’s genocidal history, Truman’s decision looks very bad. But his administration was riddled with Commies left over from FDR’s, and America was foreign war-weary.
Alex, it’s always easy to gain support when you promise people something for nonthing.
Communists always attract the poor by telling them that the only reason why they are poor is because someone else is stealing from them. The problem is that once the communists come to power, they steal even more than the previous oligarchs did.
You are a “funny” other person Alex.
Maybe you should know how Communists appear by social intimidation and ape upon grievances real or invented.
How many millions or Chinese , the Chinese Communism murdered just in China?
I am happy you appreciate my occasional humour.
As a Russian growing up in Australia, I knew all the stories you refer to.
I am fully aware of the millions that died.
Being aware of and understanding why things happened does not imply some sort of approval of what happened. I clearly stated that I am not a supporter of the regime.
Some people blindly hate something without understanding a single thing about it.
How do you expect to survive an enemy that you know nothing about?
The US Congress through tax incentives and other measures should strongly encourage American industry and American pharmaceuticals to move back to the United States. We should also encourage other industry to locate in the United States. One issue to overcome is that we might not have the tremendously large and poorly paid workforce of China doing repeated mundane tasks day in and day out but we do have robotics which can perform these tasks on a 24/7 basis day and day out.
I work with one company that has manufacturing in both USA and in shanghai.
One guy told me the Shanghai labor cost is 80% of the USA labor
An advantage but nothing like it was
The labor costs in China have been rising for some time. Incredible as it may seem, their one child policy and forced abortion has left them with a depleted work force. With scarcity, as always, comes rising prices, this time for labor.
This policy has also left them with 17% if their males of marriage age unable to find a wife as girl babies were aborted in an effort to get the son who is coveted in Chinese culture. China does not do immigration so, there are no options for these men.
The sad thing is that they had demographers telling the CCP that the birth rate would decline naturally as the nation became richer. It always does. They refused to heed them and are now reaping what they sowed.
Now, besides not having an adequate workforce, they have an enormous elderly crisis as there is one couple trying to care for four parents, eight grandparents and so on. It’s impossible and the elderly are being neglected and the CCP doesn’t want to pay for their care.
Talk about chickens coming home to roost!
KcTaz
I’m not so sure about this ‘forced abortion’ thing. When I hear ‘forced abortion’ I get an image in my mind of a couple of goons turning up at the door and dragging a screaming woman to get an abortion.
From what I can glean (I’m not the Spanish Inquisition when it comes to delicate matters), the one-child policy only applied to the majority ‘han’ people. All minorities could have as many children as they cared to have.
The overall policy was that your first child is registered free. That means schooling and other stuff. If you had a second child then it would be sorta ‘illegal’ and couldn’t really get registration for it. If you had the money then you could buy your way out of the situation.
I imagine abortion was the only option to avoid these problems. Not physically forced but forced through financial needs. Grandmothers were the worst in regards to abortion of female children. Shame on the family etc.. Many of my students were hated by their grandmother because they were female, even ostracised by the whole family. So I’m not sure about the government forcing abortion in this case. It was a choice.
For as long as I was China, it was forbidden for doctors to disclose the sex of the fetus. Of course, with sufficient money, I’m sure some doctors disclosed (that’s China) The Chinese government is not that blind and stupid about the male/female ratio and the reasons that it is what it is. There is some sort of rule now about children with parents who were involved with the one-child policy can now have two. The government is also encouraging the nouveau riche to have more children. It’s all a little complicated.
I would be wary and update my information on this ‘forced abortion’ view.
I might add from a friend from China. She has just had her second child. Her husband was married before and had a child.
You work out the policies. I can’t.
Alex: I’m not so sure about this ‘forced abortion’ thing. When I hear ‘forced abortion’ I get an image in my mind of a couple of goons turning up at the door and dragging a screaming woman to get an abortion.
If you read Vanya Kewley’s “Tibet – Behind the Ice Curtain” that is precisely what the Chinese did to Tibetan women and worse they prevented them from having any more children thereon after. The whole issue of the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the subsequent treatment of the Tibetan population and the country in general has been hidden away behind “The Ice Curtain”
harrowsceptic
I don’t doubt what’s written in the book. The same things happened in China, the Soviet Union, East Germany etc.
The world is a horrific place and always has been if you care to look in detail. 100 years ago, 200 years ago, forever years ago -no country is innocent.
Some bloggers imply that forced abortion is a current, ongoing thing. Those are my doubts.
After the 2008 downturn economically, many Chinese companies put off experienced workers. When the economy started turning around the workers were offered their job back at the same rate of pay. The workers had made other arrangements and weren’t prepared to go back at the same rate of pay.
Employers were forced to pay more. Chinese employers are finally learning that if you want better productivity you have to pay more.
NEITHER THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION NOR ITS BOSS MR GUTERRES NOR THE UNITED NATIONS HAS ANY CREDIBILITY LEFT. I WOULD URGE THE PRESIDENT TO DEFUND NOT JUST THE WHO BUT THE UN ITSELF. THE UN IS AN UNDISCIPLINED AND UNACCOUNTABLE ROGUE BUREAUCRACY OUT OF CONTROL.
https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/03/18/the-eco-crisis-ambition-of-the-un/
👍👍
@ chaamjamal: YES!
Exactly.
It tells me all i need to know that my Canadian PM Trudeau eat sleeps and drinks UN and China, as he breaks the bank trying to buy an utterly useless security council temporary seat.
I wish we would pull out and defund, especially as our clown is likely to borrow more money to make up for what Trump is with holding
Ji has to be careful when he turns around lest Justin’s feet knock stuff off the coffee table.
chaamjamal,
AMEN, SISTER!
Didn’t Taiwan report first human-to-human transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus in late December, only to be ignored by the China lapdog WHO?
Bingo!
Paul R Johnson,
Yes.
Taiwan releases December email to WHO showing unheeded warning about coronavirus
April 13, 2020
https://www.foxnews.com/world/taiwan-releases-december-email-showing-unheeded-warning-to-who-about-coronavirus
Good
I had no idea where the expression “blow smoke up one’s ass” came from. I thought it was just some perverse modern invention, but no: it was a late 18th century medical practice. First paragraph explains.
The underground doctors’ movement questioning the use of ventilators
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/ventilators-doctor-movement
An article linked to in the above article is one of the more informative things I’ve read on the use of ventilators, written by an MD who works with them.
Ventilators aren’t a panacea for a pandemic like coronavirus
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/Ventilators-aren-t-a-panacea-for-a-pandemic-like-coronavirus
Interesting drug that vastly improves outcome for those with covid on ventilators
https://www.biospace.com/article/mesoblast-ltd-s-stem-cell-therapy-shows-83-percent-survival-in-covid-19-patients/
That *is* interesting. Eighty percent live after being on a ventilator and using this therapy, whereas 80 percent die on a ventilator without the therapy..
Time to make Steve Bannon Ambassador to Taiwan. We can do better than just demanding Observer Status for Taiwan at the WHO. The entire planet needs to recognize that Taipei, Taiwan is the legitimate capital of all China. It wasn’t an accident that President (elect) Trump called the Republic of China President Tsai Ing-wen on December 2, 2016. This event marked the first time since 1979 that a U.S. President or President-elect had directly spoken with a ROC President. Going one step further and recognizing Taiwan as the legitimate Govt of all China would send the mainland communist Chinese a message, especially if the rest of the world followed suit.
The knives are being sharpened anyway in Peking for the back of the fascist dictator Xi by his own countrymen, because no one likes an absolute dictator, even in a dictatorship. He has disgraced them and the illegitimate Chicom mainland has lost face to the entire international community with this Wuhan Coronavirus mishandling, or perhaps it is a deliberate infection of the entire world if Comrade Xi is a sociopath like Mao. And it looks like he is if you look up the definition of a sociopath.
Red China is now going to lose tens of trillions of lost economic activity in the decades to come if their is no change in leadership in mainland China. It’s time to rub Red China and the CPC faces in their own dog dodo. Their own countrymen will take care of these fascists in short order if we just turn our backs on any significant relations with them. Deny them Face…that is their worst PR nightmare. And this is just the start of it. If it means war, the sooner the better, as they have the exact same designs on SE Asia and the South China Sea as Japan had in the early to mid 1930’s. Only China now has economic designs on the entire world and have said as much.
Earthling,
+1!
The Chinese have a tradition that a change of dynasty is always preceded by a great natural catastrophe. Perhaps it’s happening again. I sincerely hope so.
Here is the timeline
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/key-findings-leaked-government-dossier-china-bat-virus-program
Here is a Zero Hedge story on Remdesivir
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/remdesivir-probably-worthless-trauma-surgeon-exposes-drug-companys-shenanigans
Be your own judge
While the gist of Colum Lynch’s article appears to be correct,
illogical thinking like this doesn’t make me want to waste my time reading another line:
1. Recognize Taiwan.
2. Cooperate to prevent the spread of COVID 19.
These are not mutually exclusive concepts.
Column Inch, sorry Colum Lynch. Even when these hacks have no option but agree with with actions taken by Trump, they can’t help themselves. They have to denigrate him even when illogical
Exactly, Janice!
A: China was the source of COVID-19; i.e. China was working on COVID-19 in their germ warfare lab and the disease got released.
B: China, purposely lied about:
• Infectiousness of COVID-19
• Deadliness of COVID-19
• Sharing live COVID-19 information so other countries could work on treatments
• China’s total infected, treated, dead and current rate of infections.
C: COVID-19 is an official Pandemic, i.e. it is worldwide!!
Exactly what do you believe is negotiable or cooperative in dealing with COVID-19?
Ignore China’s falsehoods, fabrications, ongoing fraud and ask China to participate in world meetings? Meetings that likely will indicate individual nation’s classified medical situations?
Yeah, sure…
Lynch should go buy some bridges in China. Bridges should be cheap in China after they barricaded them…
Nice summary, Theo. And, good to see you 🙂
And Spain (testing kits) and the State of Illinois (face masks), et al. (kits and or masks) have a little breach of contract issue over some non-conforming goods that China sold them.
They can all have fun collaborating with China, too.
And China can hire Mr. or Ms. (“Colum” …. have no idea…..) Lynch as its defense counsel. She or he already has experience. Heh.
Forget Germany, they long ago sold out to both China and Iran. They are BFFs now.
[Re-posting — other comments written after my attempt to post have appeared — so, likely too many links/too much formatting in my comment]
Influenza (and pneumonia) also shave off years of life expectancy:
(Source: https://www.statnews.com/2018/09/26/cdc-us-flu-deaths-winter/comment-page-5/ )
COVID 19-only U.S. deaths as of May 1, 2020: 37,308
(Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm )
***********************************
I BEG YOUR PARDON! (*blush*) This comment and the other below (continued) were a reply to an off-topic comment of MarkW on another thread. I got mixed up!
Please forgive me for the mess. Very sorry. 🙁
(continued)
Further, the mortality rate of COVID 19 is not great enough to justify the extraordinary measure of an economic and civil liberty lockdown:
[A] team from the United Kingdom published a new case-fatality rate estimate of 1.4%, based on all available data on deaths in and outside of China, … .
(Source: March 31, 2020, As Global COVID-19 Total Passes 850,000, Study Shows 1.4% Fatality Rate, CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) [title edited by me for correct capitalization] https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/03/global-covid-19-total-passes-850000-study-shows-14-fatality-rate )
(Source: Ibid.)
************************
Bottom line: The implication of the WSJ article, that COVID 19 is something especially to be feared, regardless of its factual accuracy, does more harm than good. It fans the flames of the illogical overreaction currently strong-arming us all into quasi-house arrest and socialistic tyranny.
…China is likely to retaliate against any move by Tedros or by other governments to include Taiwan in deliberations…
I’m curious exactly what form that retaliation would take. Will they threaten to pull their measly funding?
Will they threaten to subject the world to another virus?
We shouldn’t admit Taiwan, we should replace China with Taiwan.
No, the justification for Taiwan being represented applies equally to China.
Having spent a week in Taiwan on business I’m a fan of their system, like a glimpse of what China could have been. But there is no guarantee if Chiang Kai-shek had won all of China would have turned into a a much larger version of Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek was no saint. And in any case, Mao won – we have to deal with what is, not what could have been.
There is good reason to suppose that the whole of China would have undergone the same kind of evolution toward liberty and prosperity from authoritarianism and poverty enjoyed by Taiwan under the RoC and South Korea under the RoK. In the latter case, also from devastation of war.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus should really focus on what is happening in Ethiopia. More people die from hunger and poverty and diseases brought about from malnutrition. He is so far removed from reality it’s funny!
Someone needs to take a look inside Tedros’ bank accounts an investments – CIA, Interpol or whoever has the means – could be interesting
Big on handling one thing at the time.
Though the accusations may be true, it is incredibly irresponsible to start reinforcing poor relations while the world is so vulnerable. The equivalent of shooting oneself in the foot.
That just my opinion.
Time out!
As Basil Fawlty would say ‘Deal with the problem now, the sackings can come later.’
“Don’t mention the war!”
I mentioned it once and I think I got away with it.
You mean like walk AND chew gum?
Time in!
Good relations rely a level of cooperation, which China seems absolutely opposed to embracing.
It always comes down to co-operation on someone’s terms, it’s always the other party that is not being co-operative. I’m not taking a side here, just my experience with people dealings.
Watching AlJazeera this morning a middle aged white anglo type spokesman for the WHO was saying that he had ‘been advised’ by several virologists that the Covid 19 was the consequence of a natural origin and not produced in the lab at Wuhan.
A feeling of Deja Vu came over me about the debate about the origin of the Canine Parvovirus that appeared suddenly in all English speaking countries where [no names,no pack drill],a certain then multinational exported their cat parvovirus vaccine.
That company subsequently folded its tent in Australia and slipped away.
This was a pandemic of Biblical proportions.
I recall the late, great ,Margaret Sabine, associate professor of Virology at Sydney Uni discussing the origin of this pathogen, which had altered in five places on the genome.
That’s a pretty tough call.
In similar words she said, ‘well its your choice.’
It either was a lab accident or arrived from interstellar space on a comet.
Since that discussion the debate raged for years until authoritatively it was decided that this pathogen could only have come from nature.
So, as in all science, all that is necessary is transparent , verifiable, inquiry.
All the WHO has to do is simply publish the papers in an open journal.
Too easy.
Lets say, for the sake of argument, that this spokesman is telling the truth as has been revealed to him.
For the sake of clarification, how about naming some names?
Even a couple would do.
Now the smart scientist looks for somewhere nice to study his or her passion.
Rain forest, go to Brazil,Coral Reef, go to Queensland,SARS, go to Wuhan.
So just because the origin of the virus was of natural origin, how does one know if the one we see now was the natural one from the market,or one being studied at the lab or even one that had been changed at the lab and escaped into the local population via the market.
In every case one could rightly say that the origin was at least,ultimately,natural.
So its time for a bit of face saving.
Time to come clean with a bit of objective science.
last time it was dogs that copped it.
Its time the WHO comes clean.
Lynch tries a lynching job by deliberately not seeing why Taiwan’s expertise would have been invaluable at the start of this pandemic. For the simple reason that Taipei know exactly how to act. No, according to Colum it’s those nasty Americans who are playing politics instead of the Chinese of the CCP.
Richard Horton:
Useless, incorrect to blame China for coronavirus origin: Lancet editor-in-chief
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-05-01/Useless-incorrect-to-blame-China-for-COVID-19-origin-Lancet-expert-Q93DwqFYIg/index.html
He slams the UK and US delay of over a month after clear warnings. This editor happens to be a virulent promoter of the anthropogenic climate change hoax. But he has been outspoken about the British delay in taking action, and especially against the “herd immunity” concept of letting people die.
As for lies, thoroughly refuted here , Apr 21 :
https://danielabell.com/2020/04/21/did-the-chinese-government-deliberately-export-covid-19-to-the-rest-of-the-world/
Going for thermonuclear war based on lies, well, is like all other wars where the first victim is truth, except this time pandemic victims would not outnumber the dead from fusion weapons.
It could seems the pandemic has driven the population insane, shades of middle-ages flagellants…
Or the pandemic has mortally wounded the current global paradigm, already utterly and irredeemably bankrupt, to the point if irrational thrashing and flailing?
An example of thrashing and flailing, a sight to behold :
https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/coronaviruscompensation/
This British “Charity”, rather a stink tank of Scoop Jackson neocons, demands trillions of $$ to bail out the irredeemably doomed global financial paradigm. To the point of sending us all as cannon fodder to a “Jolly little” thermonuclear war, what?
Is WUWT a British Henry Jackson society mouthpiece now?
Another example of wild thrashing and flailing :
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8257475/DEFENCE-COMMITTEE-CHAIR-TOBIAS-ELLWOOD-global-race-vaccine-turn-nasty.html
Former British Defense Min. Tobias Ellwood seems to be calling for a jolly little war because :
“And it is time for Britain, in particular, to act. The world is fast moving into a dangerous new era. If we don’t take the initiative – as we have done in the past – then who will?”
Send the Yanks again to East Asia? What chutzpah!
Bravo Trump.
In the face of ideological contempt, yet another demonstration of integrity and resolve. How refreshing.
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you and that is what China has done, in an effort to buy up assets on the cheap and in turn control.
Communism has no God and morality is not an issue.
From the article: “But the Trump administration’s bid provides the latest sign that Washington is placing a higher priority on eliciting criticism of China, its chief geostrategic adversary, than exploring ways the two superpowers, or other governments for that matter, could collaborate in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.”
Well, Trump is just fighting back against the propaganda campaign that has been launched by the Chinese leadership in order to deflect blame for the pandemic from themselves. The Chinese are currently claiming the U.S. started the pandemic, so Trump has to counter all these lies of the Chinese leadership.
This confrontation has just started. We have a *long* way to go. China’s leaders won’t escape blame, and their nation is going to pay the price economically.
China’s leaders chose this path and now they are going to have to walk it. They might be able to bully their own people, but they can’t bully the whole world, and the whole world is angry with them. Chinese arrogance and bluster won’t change the facts.
We tried to get along with China and now we have found out we cannot get along with the current leadership of China, so our options are to capitulate to the Chinese leadership’s demands, or to defeat the Chinese leadership. I choose the latter.
It’s always good to be able to recognize one’s enemies. That way, they can’t sneak up and stab you in the back because you don’t give them an opportunity.
We should have done the Chinese during the Vietnam war. Our fearless leaders were always afraid to attack North Vietnam directly (the only way to defeat this enemy unless we wanted to leave American troops in South Vietnam for the duration) because they claimed China would enter the war and, Oh No!, China had a couple of nuclear weapons back then. So instead, we fought a decade-long war of attrition. I personally think the “chinese entry” was just an excuse for doing nothing. The anti-war groups would have howled had we invaded North Vietnam, and our fearless political leaders were scared to death of the anti-war protestors and the anti-war media. Especially the anti-war media. Real leaders don’t come along every day.
First, I don’t think the Chinese would have entered Vietnam against the U.S. If they had, they would have had their asses kicked thoroughly, worse than the Vietnamese did to them in the 1980’s. A *lot* worse.
And even if they did have a nuke or two and were foolish enough to use them, they wouldn’t have even slowed us down, but you can rest assured there would be no communist regime in Beijing right now.
After this pandemic act of war, maybe we’ll get to see just how tough these Chinese are on the battlefield. They seem to be doing a lot of blustering and bullying now. At some point they are going to have to back that up with more than just words.
They have many more nukes now than then (that’s why we should have nailed them way back when) but no amount of nuclear weapons will win them the war, or keep them alive because the U.S. has more nukes and after it’s all over, the U.S. will recover faster than anyone else in the world icluding the Chinese.
So use those nukes at your own peril, Xi. They don’t scare us. And we have plans for you if you do.
I want to see the Chinese try to invade the United States. The biggest problem this will pose for American authorities is trying to coordinate the millions of American volunteers that will be heading for the invasion location carrying their guns and wanting to get into the fight. I would be among them. Come and get it, Xi ! We’re ready.
After the Great Cultural Revolution began, the ChiCom regime would have found it difficult to enter the war in Vietnam, as it did in Korea, relying heavily upon captured or side-switching Nationalist divisions and corps. Which is one reason why 2/3 of ostensibly Chinese PoWs chose to be repatriated to Taiwan rather than Red China.
Stalemate in the Vietnam War would not have required invading the North, just reversing JFK’s braindead recognition of Laotian “neutrality”. In most of the South, the Cong were wiped out after Tet, except in the Delta, supplied down the Mekong and from Cambodia. To shut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, down which the NVA could invade, as in 1972 and ’75, all we had to do was continue the DMZ west to the Mekong and Thailand. The barrier could have been manned by ARVN, Nung, Hmong, Montangard and Royal Thai Army troops, with US logistical, fires and air support. Probably also Laotian soldiers who knew their regime was a North Vietnamese puppet.
Such a zone could have been maintained indefinitely, with minimal US presence, as has been the DMZ in Korea.
Chinese invasion of Vietnam was in February to March 1979.
Xi doesn’t intend to invade the US, although the PLA probably has contingency plans. Not even Hawaii, in the PRC’s third and outermost ring of perimeter islands.
At this point, his goals are probably limited to turning the East and South China Seas into a PRC lake, capturing Taiwan, neutralizing US allies the RoK and Japan and colonizing SE Asia, plus as much of South, Central and West Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America as possible.
Even longer term, the ChiCom regime doesn’t aim to take over Canada and the US militarily, just economically. It probably does intend however to dominate Siberia, SE Asia and Oceania via puppet states, to include Oz.
Forgot USMC Tigercats. Zoom!
Sorry. Misplaced. Goes with hypothetical intervention in Chinese Civil War comment, above.
Until the U.S. sets up an embassy in Taiwan, giving direct recognition of Taiwan as an independent nation, the rhetoric around the WHO and observer status is simply ‘noise’. NOW is the time to be bold. Calling the bluff of the PRC will not ignite a world war; it will precipitate clarity and bring the overall ugliness of this authoritarian regime to the fore. The U.S. must ‘get ahead’ of the military and geopolitical curve in the 100 year plan of the PRC leadership. Act NOW.
Am I given to understand that the best we can do to fight a global pandemic, the possibility of future global pandemics, as well as the arm twisting and lies of a world power suppressive communist regime is a strongly worded letter?