The State Department Summoned Chinese Ambassador: Stop Spreading Lies that Coronavirus Began in America; Chinese State Media Threatens to Unleash "A Mighty Sea" of Coronavirus in America

As John Sexton noted a couple of days ago, part of the reason people enjoy saying Chinese coronavirus is that the Chinese Communist dictatorship lied to the world about the virus, slowing our ability to respond to it/contain it for a month. A month during which the Chinese sent their plague around the world.

And then, soon after, the Chinese Communist Dicatorship started pumping out conspiracy theories that the virus had actually originated in the US, and that it might even be a US bioweapon.

As the Washington Post reported last week, China is encouraging the spread of online conspiracy theories that the virus actually originated in the US:

In recent days, run-of-the-mill mockery of the White House has taken a darker turn as the Chinese Internet became inundated by the theory, subtly stoked by the Chinese government, that the coronavirus originated in the United States. The U.S. government, one version of the theory goes, has been covering up mounting cases, and perhaps thousands of deaths, by classifying them as regular flu.

While conspiracy theories pervade the Internet in every country, the sudden surge and overwhelming prevalence of anti-U.S. rhetoric this week has been conspicuous and significant in the context of China, where censors typically scrub speech that strays out of bounds and police quickly detain those deemed to be spreading rumors...

Today the Guardian published a follow-up on these conspiracy theories which are still spreading on Chinese social media:

One of the most popular topics on the Chinese microblog Weibo on Thursday was a one-minute clip of a US congressional hearing this week on how the country was dealing with the coronavirus.

In the video posted by the People's Daily, Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is asked whether there may have been deaths attributed to influenza that could actually have been the result of Covid-19. Redfield responds in the affirmative: "Some cases have been actually diagnosed that way in the United States today."...

"The US has finally acknowledged that among those who had died of the influenza previously were cases of the coronavirus. The true source of the virus was the US!" one commentator said. "The US owes the world, especially China, an apology," another said. "American coronavirus," one wrote.

Sexton relayed this while discussing Jim Acosta's claim that it "smacks of xenophobia" to call the Chinese coronavirus the Chinese coronavirus, and wondered why Jim Acosta had not seen fit to relay any of this background information about the Chinese government spreading propaganda about the virus being "the American coronavirus."

At some point, CNN might want to clarify with Acosta whether his job is inform people about what's going on in the world or simply to attack President Trump on camera.

Trump answered a question at the press conference about a Chinese State Media article claiming The US Army brought the Chinese coronavirus to China.

The State Department hailed the Chinese ambassador to the US into their offices to give them a talking to about the lies their government is pumping out:

Meanwhile, the US is finally taking a look at the perils of having so much of our pharmaceutical production in an enemy country that is prone to plagues, and is considering a push to bring the US' medicine and drug production back home.

The global spread of the coronavirus is reigniting efforts by the Trump administration to encourage more American manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and reduce dependence on China for the drugs and medical products that fuel the federal health care system.

The effort includes a push by the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro to tighten "Buy American" laws so federal agencies are required to purchase American-made pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, according to people with knowledge of the plans.

The administration has been preparing an executive order, which could be released in the coming days, that would close loopholes allowing the government to purchase pharmaceuticals, face masks, ventilators and other medical products from foreign countries. The hope is that increasing government demand for American-made drugs and medical products will provide an incentive for companies to make their products in the United States, rather than China.

To help facilitate such production, the White House is also pushing for streamlined regulatory approvals for American-made products and more detailed labeling of the origin of products made offshore, these people said.

I'd like to see the Free Trade At Any Price globalists respond to this: China is actually threatening to kill Americans by refusing to sell medicine to us.

So, sure: Let's leave critical US manufacture capability solely in the hands of evil communist hostage-takers!

This is probably just saber-rattling, but it's still a bit worrisome as the U.S. is struggling to deal with a pandemic. A Chinese state media outlet has published an article bragging about the nation's control over the supply chain of pharmaceutical drugs:

Now that the number of new people infected with the coronavirus in China is slowing down, the country's Communist Party is ratcheting up threats against the West, with a particularly nasty warning about access to life-saving drugs aimed at the United States.

In an article in Xinhua, the state-run media agency that's largely considered the mouthpiece of the party, Beijing bragged about its handling of COVID-19, a virus that originated in the city of Wuhan and has spread quickly around the world, killing nearly 5,000 people and infecting thousands more. The article also claimed that China could impose pharmaceutical export controls which would plunge America into "the mighty sea of coronavirus."...

They're literally threatening to deliberately inflict a biowar on America -- and the Corporate Supremacists will tell us, Cartel boycotts by Chinese Communist Dictators is exactly what Free Markets look like at their best...

Maybe it's time for a real Trade War with China -- as in, beginning a five-year ramp-down of any goods from China.

&bodytext=As John Sexton noted a couple of days ago, part of the reason people enjoy saying Chinese coronavirus is that the Chinese Communist dictatorship lied to the world about the virus, slowing our ability to respond to it/contain it for...&topic=world_news"> posted by Ace at 05:11 PM

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