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China Is Now a Dangerous Adversary of the United States

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Thursday’s breaking news regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to pull approvals for dozens of mask makers in China proves the point: China must now be seen as an adversary.

For half a century, the American establishment has seen China as a partner on the international stage. Some Americans looked at China and saw only the size of its potential market for American goods; others looked at China and saw it as a strategic linchpin in the Cold War against the Soviet Union; still others saw a vast manufacturing plant with a low-paid workforce that could be used to produce “American” goods inexpensively.

Presidents and administrations both Democratic and Republican saw China as a partner, and worked regularly to deepen the ties that bound the two countries, even as a relatively small number of us voiced concerns over what we saw as the clear national security threat posed by the relationship. . .

The Chinese Communist Party’s behavior in the coronavirus crisis has made clear that China is no “partner” to the United States. China, clearly, is an adversary— and, going forward, the United States must treat it as such, across the entire spectrum of policy.

For now, though, let’s just focus on one aspect of the relationship — the threat posed by China’s virtual chokehold on American medical supplies. Once we opened up free trade with China in the early 2000s, we began shifting production from the United States to China. Our last aspirin manufacturing facility closed down in 2002, as did our last vitamin C plant. Our last penicillin plant closed in 2004. Chinese manufacturers, subsidized by their government, picked up the slack. (Read more from “China Is Now a Dangerous Adversary of the United States” HERE)

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Pompeo Condemns China’s Attempts to Steal Coronavirus Research Data; U.S. to Israel: No More Chinese Deals

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By Newsweek. The U.S. State Department released a statement Thursday denouncing attempts to infiltrate systems involved in U.S. COVID-19 research that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed to China.

“The United States condemns attempts by cyber actors and non-traditional collectors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to steal U.S. intellectual property and data related to COVID-19 research,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

Pompeo’s remarks follow an announcement by the FBI on Wednesday that the bureau is investigating “the targeting and compromise” of organizations conducting research to develop vaccines and other treatments for COVID-19. The efforts were attributed to China-affiliated actors. . .

According to the FBI, digital intruders are seeking to pilfer valuable intellectual property related to this research, jeopardizing “the delivery of secure, effective, and efficient treatment options.” (Read more from “Pompeo Condemns China’s Attempts to Steal Coronavirus Research Data” HERE)

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U.S. to Israel: No More Chinese Deals; Pompeo’s Flying Visit

By Breaking Defense. The United States delivered a clear message to Jerusalem today – avoid further involvement of China in the Israeli economy. The message was one of the main reasons for the very short visit of American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Jerusalem — one day before the new cabinet is sworn in.

“The fact that the visit takes place in these problematic times proves its urgency ” an Israeli source said. Pompeo came to Israel with a very strict message – stop all Chinese investment in Israel, either in high tech companies or infrastructure.

Israeli officials said the message relayed during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s hours-long visit included a very specific political warning – Israel must stop any action that strengthens the Chinese Communist Party, even if that means canceling projects already planned. (Read more from “U.S. to Israel: No More Chinese Deals; Pompeo’s Flying Visit” HERE)

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In a Retaliatory Move, the U.S. Shortens Visas for Chinese Journalists

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The Department of Homeland Security is throwing the next punch in the escalating journalism battle between the U.S. and China.

The U.S. is shortening the validity period of visas for Chinese journalists to a maximum of 90 days to reciprocate for China’s recent expulsion of American journalists and nonrenewal of visas.

This journalism visa tit-for-tat is just one facet of rising U.S.-China tensions related to Beijing’s mishandling of the coronavirus, which has infected the world.

In March, China expelled American journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post after writers criticized the Chinese government’s mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak.

Beijing also demanded that those outlets—as well as Voice of America and Time magazine—give the Chinese government detailed information about their operations. The expulsion included Hong Kong and Macau, in addition to the People’s Republic of China itself.

Beijing argued the move was in retaliation for the U.S. limiting five state-run Chinese news organizations to 100 Chinese citizen employees who could work in the U.S.

The U.S. was set on May 11 to make the next move, by changing the terms of media visas for Chinese journalists.

The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes “I” temporary visas for aliens visiting the U.S. as representatives of foreign information media.

To qualify, the alien must be a bona fide representative of foreign press, radio, film, or other foreign information media having its home office in a foreign country. This type of visa is also statutorily required to be provided “upon a basis of reciprocity” with a foreign country’s media visa terms and conditions.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has, per regulation, been admitting foreign media traveling with “I” visas into the U.S. for a “duration of status,” as opposed to issuing a specific “admit until” date on the visitor’s entry record.

Duration of status is a much more flexible and generous term of admission that, in the context of foreign press, has been interpreted by Customs and Border Protection as the duration of the journalist’s employment.

In the Department of Homeland Security’s new rule published May 11, the department changes the term of admission for Chinese journalists from duration of status to a period not to exceed 90 days. The new rule does allow for extensions of stay, also for periods no greater than 90 days.

The DHS explains it is making this regulatory change toward China to achieve greater reciprocity between the U.S.’ and China’s treatment of foreign press seeking entry into the other country.

Unlike China’s journalist clampdown, however, the DHS rule change does not apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) or Macau SAR passport holders.

The DHS states in its rule change that “[i]nformation received from the Department of State, as well as open source information, demonstrates a suppression of independent journalism in [China], including an increasing lack of transparency and consistency in the admission periods granted to foreign journalists, including U.S. journalists.”

Notably, the reporters that the Chinese government expelled have reported on issues of interest to international audiences, but which are embarrassing to the Chinese Communist Party, such as its use of indoctrination camps, mass incarceration, forced labor, and corruption among the party’s leaders.

In addition, China has been shortening the media visas it issues to foreign press to periods of six months or less, as opposed to China’s prior 12-month validity period.

China has long used its foreign press to echo the Communist Party’s propaganda abroad, but those tactics have reached a crescendo following the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China.

The Chinese Communist Party has used its money and threats to influence public statements made by others, such as international organizations like the World Health Organization, to initially downplay the severity of the infectious virus, followed by blaming the United States for the global outbreak.

The United States was founded on the principle of a free press and free speech. Given Beijing’s treatment of foreign press, and American journalists in particular, the DHS is right to reciprocally shorten “I” visas for Chinese media.

Further, the U.S. and all other countries need to strongly combat the Chinese Communist Party’s false coronavirus propaganda. After infecting more than 4.2 million people and instantaneously destroying economies globally, China owes it to the world to be open and transparent with scientific information about the virus.

Until China changes its ways, the Chinese Communist Party should not be rewarded with lengthy visas to spread its misinformation using American media. (For more from the author of “In a Retaliatory Move, the U.S. Shortens Visas for Chinese Journalists” please click HERE)

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Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Continues to Urge Bringing Supply Chain Home

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Peter Navarro, the director of President Donald Trump’s Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, has been repeatedly pushing for the U.S. to bring more of its supply chain home as concerns about dependence on China have mounted amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

As the U.S. has dealt with the public health and economic fall out of the global outbreak of COVID-19, Trump administration officials and some top Republicans have been increasingly critical of China, the country where the novel virus first arose. Chinese officials initially covered up the outbreak in Wuhan, and China has faced mounting international criticism for lacking transparency amid the pandemic. Meanwhile, the U.S. has struggled to build up essential medical supplies, with much of the supply chain relying on products manufactured in China or elsewhere.

“If we don’t learn from this crisis that the only way this great country is going to prosper is by making the stuff we need as much as possible then we will have learned nothing and we will sink into the abyss,” Navarro said Monday in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box. . .

“The structural pillars going forward are going to be [to] buy American–and that is bringing our supply chains and production home, deregulation to make that possible, and innovation to stay ahead of the competition,” he said. Navrro noted that Trump has been meeting with business leaders to discuss how the supply chain could be brought back to the U.S. (Read more from “Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Continues to Urge Bringing Supply Chain Home” HERE)

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China: “Prepare for Armed Confrontation Between the Two Global Powers”

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Amid the deepest economic contraction in nearly a century, President Xi Jinping had already made it very clear, last month, that China should be ready for unprecedented, relentless foreign challenges.

He was not referring only to the possible decoupling of global supply chains and the non-stop demonization of every project related to the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative.

An allegedly leaked internal document, secret and invisible inside China, but nonetheless obtained by some obscure Western-connected source, even stated, essentially, that the blame game against China over the virus is like the backlash over Tiananmen all over again.

According to the secret, invisible document, China would have to “prepare for armed confrontation between the two global powers” – a reference to the US. It’s as if this was an aggressive strategy deployed by the Chinese state in the first place, and not in response to the massive escalation of hybrid warfare 2.0 by the United States government. . .

What Beijing used to define as a “period of strategic opportunity” is over. There were rumblings in intel circles that the CCP leadership believed this strategic window of opportunity would last unimpeded until the key date, 2049 – when “national rejuvenation” should have been fully accomplished. (Read more from “China: “Prepare for Armed Confrontation Between the Two Global Powers” HERE)

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White House Adviser: ‘Chinese Communist Party’ Dismantled Trump’s ‘Beautiful Economy’ in 60 Days Amid Coronavirus

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White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” in an exclusive interview that President Trump “built the most powerful and beautiful economy in the world in three years,” but, “the Chinese communist party took it down in 60 days.”

Navarro made the claim three days after House Republicans launched a “China Task Force” to coordinate a strategy against the geopolitical threat from Beijing — coming amid global scrutiny over China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The group will set priorities, gather information and coordinate approaches to the threat coming from China, including dealing with legislation, The Washington Post first reported.

The group also is expected to look at China’s influence in the U.S., its efforts to take over international organizations, supply chains and more, along with China’s role in the coronavirus pandemic. Some U.S. officials have pointed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab as the possible source of the outbreak. . .

Speaking on Mother’s Day, Navarro explained, “This morning, Americans won’t go to church because of the China virus. Sons and daughters of America won’t be taking their mothers to brunch. Tomorrow, 33 million Americans won’t be going to work and millions of children in America will be home climbing the walls instead of learning reading, writing and arithmetic.” (Read more from “White House Adviser: ‘Chinese Communist Party’ Dismantled Trump’s ‘Beautiful Economy’ in 60 Days Amid Coronavirus” HERE)

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Bombshell Intel Report Exposes How China Colluded With WHO to Hide Truth About Coronavirus

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By The Blaze. A new intelligence report from Germany’s intelligence service, known as the Bundesnachrichtendienst, reveals how China and the World Health Organization colluded to suppress the truth about coronavirus.

According to the report, which was obtained by German newspaper Der Spiegel, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom in January to suppress the truth about COVID-19.

Unfortunately for the international community, Adhanom complied with China’s request, according to the Taiwan News.

During a conversation on Jan. 21, Xi reportedly asked Tedros not to announce that the virus could be transmitted between humans and to delay any declaration of a coronavirus pandemic.

It took until the end of January before the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak needed to receive international attention. Because of China’s delay, the world wasted four to six weeks it could have used better to counter the virus from spreading, the BND concluded.

(Read more from “Bombshell Intel Report Exposes How China Colluded With WHO to Hide Truth About Coronavirus” HERE)

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What We Don’t Know About Coronavirus Origins Might Kill Us

By Bloomberg. The best minds in virology are trying to unravel a mystery: How did a lethal coronavirus jump from the wilds of rural China to major human population centers? And what chain of genetic mutations produced a pathogen so perfectly adapted for stealth and mass transmission?

Deciphering the creation story of SARS-CoV-2, as the virus now rampaging around the globe is known, is a crucial step toward arresting a pandemic that’s killed 270,000-plus and triggered what could be the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.

While crash vaccine programs are underway in the U.S., Europe and China, an inoculation to ward off the virus may not be ready for months, and the jury’s out on potential treatments. In the meantime, to reduce the risk of deadly secondary outbreaks or the emergence of an entirely new strain, disease chasers need to retrace the pathogen’s journey around the globe. That means heading back to China, where it all started sometime in 2019. . .

President Xi Jinping, who’s personally overseeing China’s virus response and investigation into how the outbreak started, is keeping tight control over Chinese scientific research, which must be approved prior to publication by authorities, according to two people familiar with the situation. (Read more from “What We Don’t Know About Coronavirus Origins Might Kill Us” HERE)

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Wuhan Reports First Coronavirus Case in a Month

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The Chinese city of Wuhan has seen its first new case of the novel coronavirus in more than a month as China has also reported a spate of new infections in the northeast, after moving to reopen from months of stringent lockdown. Meanwhile, Germany, which has also taken steps to ease lockdown restrictions, has seen its infection rate rise and South Korea has seen a flare up of new cases in Seoul, causing the mayor to shutter bars and nightclubs.

As several countries around the world have begun taking steps to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions after seeing a significant decline in new infections and deaths, states and municipalities across the U.S. have also begun to reopen slowly. But health experts continue to warn of the risk of new outbreaks and a possible second wave of infections that could potentially once again overwhelm hospitals and clinics.

On Sunday, Chinese officials reported that the northeastern city of Shulan had 11 new confirmed cases of the novel virus after one woman in a family tested positive on May 7. The city has now implemented restrictive measures, including a ban on non-essential travel, closure of schools, and a lockdown of residential compounds.

Additionally, the first new confirmed case of the virus has been reported in Wuhan, where COVID-19 was initially discovered last year. In total, China confirmed 14 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, after more than a week of new daily cases remaining in the single digits. (Read more from “Wuhan Reports First Coronavirus Case in a Month” HERE)

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DHS Report Says China Lied About Extent of Pandemic in Order to Hoard Medical Supplies; White House Sees British Trade Talks as ‘Chance to Cement Anti-China Alliance’

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By Daily Caller. A report from the Department of Homeland Security says the Chinese government lied to world health agencies about the spread of coronavirus in order to buy time to stock up on medical supplies to deal with the pandemic.

The Homeland Security report assessed that Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan in November 2019, according to the Associated Press, which obtained the report.

Chinese leaders told the World Health Organization as recently as Jan. 14 that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus strain. Those assurances led to a false sense that the virus would not transmit easily, and that it could be easily contained.

While withholding information about the transmissibility of the virus, the Chinese government was busy ordering medical supplies from abroad, including face masks, gloves, and surgical gowns, says the May 1 DHS report obtained by the AP.

The report says that officials determined with a 95% degree of probability that China’s trade activity was not within the normal range, according to the AP. (Read more from “DHS Report Says China Lied About Extent of Pandemic in Order to Hoard Medical Supplies” HERE)

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White House Sees British Trade Talks as ‘Chance to Cement Anti-China Alliance’

By Washington Examiner. Washington officials hope to tie London into a trade deal that would make it harder for China to extend its influence as the United Kingdom and the United States begin talks on Tuesday.

Boris Johnson’s government has made no secret of its desire for rapid trade deals as the U.K. finds a new place in the world after leaving the European Union.

And as tensions rise with China and with months of economic gloom ahead, officials in Washington see an opportunity to score a win over Beijing’s expansionism.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office says it wants to be able under the deal to act if the U.K. strikes free trade deals with “non-market countries,” restricting London’s ability to negotiate with Beijing. (Read more from “White House Sees British Trade Talks as ‘Chance to Cement Anti-China Alliance'” HERE)

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Trump: China Intentionally Spread Coronavirus to the World

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump said Sunday night in a town hall that China likely allowed the coronavirus to spread to the world so that other countries would suffer economically.

“I think they were embarrassed by the problem,” Trump said in a Fox News town hall at the Lincoln Memorial. “The case could be made, they said, ‘hey, look this is going to have a huge impact on China, and we might as well let the rest of the world.’”

Trump noted that China banned people from traveling from Wuhan to the rest of China but allowed them to travel across the globe.

“What they really treated the world badly on: they stopped people going into China, but they didn’t stop people going into the USA and all over the world,” Trump said. (Read more from “Trump: China Intentional Spread Coronavirus to the World” HERE)

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DHS Report Accuses China of Intentionally Downplaying Coronavirus Threat

By The Hill. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intelligence report dated last week accuses China of intentionally downplaying the threat of the coronavirus to stock up on medical supplies, The Associated Press reported.

Chinese governmental leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the coronavirus from other countries in early January, according to the DHS report obtained by the AP.

The report details that China increased its imports and reduced its exports of medical supplies, adding there was a 95 percent probability the trade behavior was not within a normal range.

Analysis showed the country attempted to cover up the changes in trade by “denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data,” according to the AP. (Read more about China’s intentional coronavirus spread HERE)

Also read about Pompeo Says ‘Enormous Evidence’ Shows Coronavirus Began in Wuhan Lab, Blasts China, HERE

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