China: ‘Radical’ Trump Administration Building ‘New Iron Curtain’

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President Trump’s administration is a “radical” group bent on provoking “a second Cold War” with Beijing, a senior Chinese diplomat argued while attempting to woo European powers.

“In modern history, the progress of human civilization has been halted several times by radical forces,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the French Institute of International Relations in Paris. “What we are seeing now is that some are again maneuvering to draw a new Iron Curtain, erect another Berlin Wall, and start a second Cold War. The China-U.S. relationship is in its most testing time since the establishment of diplomatic relations.”

The Chinese envoy offered that denunciation to cap a week of overtures to European nations, a diplomatic swing that came on the heels of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s most recent round of warnings about the threats posed by Chinese espionage and economic influence. Wang called attention to disputes between U.S. and European officials, especially around climate change policy and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, while urging the French audience to overlook the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian nature.

“Despite the difference in social systems, China and the EU are meant to be comprehensive strategic partners, not systemic rivals,” he said, referring to the European Union’s landmark 2019 warning about China. (Read more from “China: ‘Radical’ Trump Administration Building ‘New Iron Curtain’” HERE)

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China Suppresses Catholics Under COVID-19 Cover

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Hundreds of underground Catholics in mainland China were stopped from celebrating the Feast of the Assumption on Aug. 15 in the latest example of communists suppressing Christians under cover of Covid-19.

Although most public places, including movie halls, remain open, churches are yet to function in most parts of China. The Marian feast is a day of obligation for Catholics when they are required to take part in Eucharistic liturgy.

Traditionally, the Feast of the Assumption is considered one of the major Catholic celebrations in China along with Christmas and Easter, when hundreds gather in their parish churches for solemn liturgical celebrations and exchange greetings.

However, this year most churches of the underground communities in Shenyang, Liaoning province, were closed. Officials presented it as a step to avoid large gatherings to check the spread of Covid-19.

A few churches were opened but police beefed up patrols to restrict the number of people gathering in them, local Catholics told UCA News. (Read more from “China Suppresses Catholics Under COVID-19 Cover” HERE)

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A Naturally-Occurring COVID-19 Is the Real Conspiracy Theory

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There are new indications that China manufactured the novel coronavirus.

The unique structural features of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, produce an extremely high infection rate and multi-organ secondary infections making this virus more dangerous and challenging for therapeutic interventions.

Although sharing the same human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 receptor, SARS-CoV-2 is more selective for the human receptor and is, overall, far more infectious than SARS-CoV-1, the coronavirus responsible for the 2002-2003 pandemic, which also originated in China.

One of those unique features of SARS-CoV-2 is a furin polybasic cleavage site that facilitates membrane fusion between the virus and the human cell and is widely known for its ability to enhance pathogenicity and transmissibility, but is not present in any closely related bat coronaviruses.

The enhanced ability for membrane fusion may be a cause for the multi-organ infection observed in SARS-CoV-2 patients.

A new scientific study published on August 19, 2020 suggests that other structures in SARS-CoV-2, similar to those found in Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), may also contribute to that alternate infection process.

The MERS-CoV 2012 pandemic produced a total of 2519 cases and 866 deaths, an extraordinary 34% mortality rate.

Like SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV is believed to have originated in bats of the beta-coronavirus lineage, but may have passed through camels as an intermediate host before infecting humans.

Unlike SARS-CoV-2, which uses the angiotensin converting enzyme-2 receptor for human infection, MERS-CoV uses a different receptor, Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), and its overall structure is only 40% similar SARS-CoV-2, meaning one could not have evolved from the other.

Yet, SARS-CoV-2 appears to possess a dual receptor strategy for the infection of human cells, similar to MERS-CoV.

In a comparative sequence analysis of the N-terminal domain of the spike protein that drives the binding and fusion process, the authors identified three extended “loop” regions in SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, but not in SARS-CoV-1, which may give SARS-CoV-2 additional capability to bind to and enter a variety of human cells.

Taken together the unique structural features of SARS-CoV-2 suggest a coronavirus that was highly adapted for human infection.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous unsuccessful attempts have been made to provide conclusive evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is naturally occurring.

A recent non-peer reviewed article “A Proposed Origin for SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 Pandemic,” written by Jonathan Latham and Allison Wilson and published on their own website has garnered some interest in the non-scientific media as a possible explanation for the natural origin of SARS-CoV-2.

This elegantly-written and well-documented review, which provides a unique and valuable translation of a Chinese clinical study, is nevertheless marred by offering an untenable theory of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 based on the serendipitous linking of a series of undocumented assumptions.

Although not concisely stated, the Latham-Wilson theory seems to suggest that SARS-CoV-2 originated as respiratory infections in miners working in a cave in Mojiang, Yunnan Province China in 2012, who were infected by a coronavirus while working among bat feces, presumably by RaTG13, SARS-CoV-2’s alleged closest relative,

Over time, RaTG13 rapidly evolved inside at least one of the miners to create SARS-CoV-2. Biological samples from that miner eventually found their way to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where unfrozen samples of the fully human-adapted SARS-CoV-2 infected a laboratory worker and began the COVID-19 pandemic.

First of all, the extent of viral evolution in a single patient that would be required to go from RaTG13 to SARS-CoV-2, about 1,200 nucleotides, is unprecedented in the annals of scientific inquiry.

Latham and Wilson attribute the adaptation to the viral load within a large lung surface area and, in particular, a lengthy infection lasting over four months.

Yet, despite the presence of an active infection of a coronavirus highly adapted for human infection, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, even though the Chinese clinical study provides no indication of special quarantine efforts and a therapeutic regime resembling that for ordinary respiratory infections, including fungal infections.

Although it seems likely that the miners experienced an initial viral respiratory infection and secondary, probably bacterial infections, tests for viral infections, including SARS-CoV-1, were negative during the course of hospitalisation.

It was only afterwards, that the Chinese clinical study mentions a positive test for an unidentified virus, one possibility being henipa-like virus, which was also discovered in the same cave along with numerous types of bat coronaviruses.

Strangely, the Wuhan Institute of Virology was experimenting with RaTG13 during 2017 and 2018, while SARS-CoV-2 was supposedly tucked away in a freezer, the Chinese scientists never making the connection between RaTG13 and the miners’ infection.

Finally, although not conclusive in itself, it seems that such a unique, direct bat-to-human natural coronavirus infection would have been big news in the virology community in 2012, yet it went practically unnoticed.

If the Latham and Wilson theory proves anything, it demonstrates the lengths one must go in evidence-stretching to show that SARS-CoV-2 is naturally-occurring, when one begins by precluding the possibility that it was manufactured in a laboratory. (For more from the author of “A Naturally-Occurring COVID-19 Is the Real Conspiracy Theory” please click HERE)

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Lawrence Sellin, PhD is a retired US Army Reserve colonel. He has previously worked at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and conducted basic and clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry. His email address is [email protected].

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North Korea Reportedly Has up to 60 Nuclear Bombs in Massive Weapons Stockpile

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North Korea is believed to have between 20 and 60 nuclear bombs — as well as a 2,500- to 5,000-ton stockpile of 20 types of chemical weapons, the world’s third-largest, according to reports.

The US Department of the Army headquarters made the assessment in its recent report, titled “North Korean tactics,” saying Pyongyang is unlikely to give up the weapons in its bid to prevent a regime change, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported.

“Estimates for North Korean nuclear weapons range from 20-60 bombs, with the capability to produce 6 new devices each year,” the US Army said, noting that some reports state that the rogue regime could obtain as many as 100 by the end of 2020.

“North Korea sought nuclear weapons because its leaders thought the threat of a nuclear attack would prevent other countries from contemplating a regime change,” the US military said. (Read more from “North Korea Reportedly Has up to 60 Nuclear Bombs in Massive Weapons Stockpile” HERE)

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Chinese Communist Party Insider: ‘Xi Is the Enemy of the World, Has Killed the Country and the Party’

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A former professor at China’s elite Central Party School has issued an unprecedented rebuke of the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, accusing him of “killing a country” and claiming that many more want out of the ruling Chinese Communist party.

Cai Xia, a prominent professor who taught at the school, a higher education institution for top officials, was expelled from the party on Monday after an audio recording of remarks she made that were critical of Xi was leaked online in June. She is no longer in China. The school said in a notice that Cai, a professor at the party school since 1992, had made comments that “damaged the country’s reputation” and were full of “serious political problems”. . . .

“Under the regime of Xi, the Chinese Communist party is not a force for progress for China. In fact, it is an obstacle to China’s progress,” she said. “I believe I am not the only one who wants to leave this party. More people would like to withdraw or quit this party,” she said. “I had intended to quit the party years ago when there was no more room to speak and my voice was completely blocked.” . . .

Cai initially spoke to the Guardian in June after the recording was first released. On that occasion she went further in her denunciation of Xi, blaming him for making China “an enemy” of the world, in comments that will reverberate across the party and the country, where such public criticism from within the party establishment is extremely rare.

On Tuesday, Cai, who initially asked that her June interview not be published because of threats she and her family received, said she was now willing to speak out. “I have much more freedom now. My speech is free from any constraints. I am responsible only for my own conscience and principles,” she said. (Read more from “Chinese Communist Party Insider: ‘Xi Is the Enemy of the World, Has Killed the Country and the Party'” HERE)

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Amid Food Shortages, North Koreans Ordered to Hand Over Pet Dogs

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North Korean dictator Kim Kong-un has ordered citizens to hand over their pet dogs — so they can be killed for food.

The hermit state says pet dogs are now considered a “decadent” luxury and “a ‘tainted’ trend by bourgeois ideology,” and must be surrendered, according to a report by South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo media outlet. . .

According to the Daily Mail, a recent report by the UN said up to 60 percent of North Koreans face “widespread food shortages.” In recent weeks, heavy rain and flooding have sparked concern about crop damage and food supplies in the isolated country.

North Korea’s national Red Cross Society is the only organization with access to all nine provinces, and more than 43,000 volunteers have been working alongside health teams on COVID-19 prevention efforts as well as helping flood-related work, said Antony Balmain of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

“Hundreds of homes have been damaged and large areas of rice fields have been submerged due to heavy rain and some flash flooding,” Balmain said, according to Reuters. (Read more from “Amid Food Shortages, North Koreans Ordered to Hand Over Pet Dogs” HERE)

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‘Maximum Pressure Campaign’: U.S. Confiscates Iranian Fuel From Four Tankers

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The Trump administration has successfully seized Iranian fuel from four tankers sailing to Venezuela, increasing their “maximum pressure campaign” against Tehran, a senior U.S. official confirmed for Fox News on Thursday evening.

Iran and Venezuela have tried to outmaneuver sanctions that the U.S. has placed on both countries by forming an oil partnership.

The confiscated cargo, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, was a direct violation of U.S. sanctions. A senior official clarified that the tankers were not seized but the oil is now in U.S. possession.

Federal prosecutors reportedly filed a forfeiture complaint and warrant in Washington, D.C. alleging that all “petroleum products” aboard the four vessels referred to as the Bella, the Bering, the Pandi and the Luna were a “source of influence” for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch in the Iranian armed forces.

The U.S. has designated the Guard a terrorist organization and therefore claimed that the sale of oil from Iran to Venezuela financially sponsors the The Guard and their militant actions. (Read more from “‘Maximum Pressure Campaign’: U.S. Confiscates Iranian Fuel From Four Tankers” HERE)

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Cuba’s Communist Government Suffers Another Blow From the Trump Administration

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The United States will stop private flights from the United States to Cuba, striking another blow against the communist Cuban government.

“Today, I requested that the Department of Transportation suspend private charter flights to all Cuban airports, including Havana. This action will suspend all charter flights between the United States and Cuba over which the Department of Transportation exercises jurisdiction, except for authorized public charter flights to and from Havana and other authorized private charter flights for emergency medical purposes, search and rescue, and other travel deemed in the interest of the United States. This Administration will continue to target and cut the revenue the Cuban government earns from landing fees, stays in regime-owned hotels, and other travel-related income,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released in a statement Thursday. “The Cuban military and intelligence services own and operate the great majority of hotels and tourism infrastructure in Cuba. We urge travelers of all nationalities to consider this and to make responsible decisions regarding travel to Cuba. The suspension of private charter flights will deny economic resources to the Castro regime and inhibit its capacity to carry out abuses.”

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Israel Establishes Formal Relations With UAE in U.S.-Brokered Peace Deal

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In a big win for Middle Eastern relations and a major victory for the Trump administration, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officially established diplomatic ties Thursday in a peace agreement brokered by the United States.

The treaty comes as Israel agrees to forgo plans to annex parts of the West Bank and marks the first Gulf Arab country to open relations with the Jewish nation.

“This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential of the region,” the White House released in a joint statement with Israel and the UAE. “As a result of this diplomatic breakthrough and at the request of President Trump with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.”

Israel’s prime minister celebrated President Donald Trump’s announcement of the agreement on Twitterm writing back “Historic Day” in Hebrew. (Read more from “Israel Establishes Formal Relations With Uae in U.S.-Brokered Peace Deal” HERE)

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South China Sea: Chinese Military Told Not to Fire First Shot in Stand-Off With U.S. Forces

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China has told its service personnel “not to fire the first shot” as Beijing looks to de-escalate tensions with the United States in the South China Sea, sources familiar with the situation told the South China Morning Post.

Both sides have stepped up their operations in the disputed waters, increasing the risk of incidents that spiral out of control, but Beijing does not want to give American hawks the opportunity to escalate things further.

The sources said Beijing had ordered pilots and naval officers to exercise restraint in the increasingly frequent stand-offs with US planes and warships.

Meanwhile, further details have emerged about a phone conversation between the two countries’ defence ministers last week.

The call was first suggested by the US side about “a month earlier” but was initially given a frosty reception in Beijing. But a source said the Chinese leadership later had a change of heart and decided to reach out as tensions escalated in the South and East China seas. (Read more from “South China Sea: Chinese Military Told Not to Fire First Shot in Stand-Off With U.S. Forces” HERE)

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