State Media: Trump Flattery of China Shows U.S. Needs ‘Urgent’ Coronavirus Aid

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

China’s government-run Global Times concluded on Friday that President Donald Trump’s description of a conversation with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping as “very good” proved that the American healthcare system needed “urgent” Chinese aid.

Trump spoke to Xi on the phone late Thursday about the growing Chinese coronavirus pandemic, which experts agree began in Wuhan, central China, in November. Xi Jinping’s pressure on his Communist Party to silence any medical information about the virus for most of December and January, allowing the virus to spread unimpeded, is believed to have directly led to the virus spreading worldwide, killing tens of thousands of people.

One study found that as many as 95 percent of the world’s cases could have been avoided if Beijing, rather than arresting doctors sharing safety tips online in the early days of the outbreak, simply heeded their professional advice.

Reports published throughout the outbreak as recently as Friday morning suggest that China is still lying about the true death toll in Wuhan, claiming the outbreak there to be over while locals with coronavirus symptoms get turned away at local hospitals to keep the official coronavirus tally low.

Despite this, President Trump said following his call with the dictator that China, meaning its ruling Communist Party, “has developed a strong understanding of the Virus” and claimed that he and Xi “are working closely together.”

Xi’s diplomats have claimed, without evidence, that the U.S. Army created the virus and unleashed it on China as a biological attack.

China’s communist-run Xinhua news agency, Xi used the call to demand that Trump “take substantive action to improve bilateral relations” and “develop a relationship of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.” Xi reportedly demanded that Trump expand American economic ties to China – where the overwhelming majority of most goods in the American market are already made – in the name of “the safety of global supply chains.”

While Trump said that China had developed “understanding” of the virus it ignored for months and deemed the call with Xi “very good,” state media’s government of Xi’s conversation indicated only that Xi said that Trump was “carrying out a series of policies” and Xi “noticed” them, without qualifying the policies as good or bad.

“The health departments and medical experts of the two countries have maintained communication over the global pandemic situation and bilateral anti-epidemic cooperation, Xi said, adding that China is willing to continue sharing, without reservation, relevant information and experience with the United States,” Xinhua reported.

The Global Times concluded that Trump’s “shifting attitude” suggested that the coronavirus outbreak in the United States was in such a dire state that only help from the Communist Party could improve the situation.

“The shifting attitude of the US reflected that seeking help from Beijing is an urgent task for Washington given the pandemic continued worsening in the US,” the state propaganda outlet said, citing Communist Party-approved “experts.”

“The gravity of the situation in the country has forced Trump to express willingness of asking for help from China, not to mention that the US needs to buy a huge amount of medical equipment including personal protective equipment, test kits and equipment like ventilators,” an alleged Chinese professor is quoted in the piece as saying. “This is an objective that Trump needs to achieve [through the phone call].”

The Global Times repeatedly praised Xi for taking the call despite alleged American belligerence against China, which it defined as support for Taiwan, the nation with the world’s most successful response to the coronavirus outbreak; accurately noting that Wuhan is the origin city of the pandemic; and noting, citing many expert observations, that the Communist Party’s censorship of information on the virus is almost exclusively responsible for the pandemic.

The Global Times published a separate article Friday insulting Trump for allegedly having “failed to appropriately deal with the outbreak,” a conclusion it has asserted on a nearly daily basis. Two weeks ago, the Global Times declared the Chinese coronavirus outbreak Trump’s “Chernobyl,” a reference to the most catastrophic failure in the history of communism.

“US politicians under the leadership of President Donald Trump have been downplaying the threat posed by the virus since when there was a sign of the outbreak in the country,” the Times claimed. “And until today in the face of the rapidly increasing numbers of confirmed infections, these politicians are still engaged in politicizing the virus rather than epidemic prevention.”

“US politicians have been telling lies. Fortunately, many Americans can still keep a clear head and see through the filthy political tricks,” the propaganda outlet asserted.

The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, claimed that Xi insisted to Trump that “China shared information on the COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus], including the genetic sequence of the virus, at the earliest time possible,” an allegation long ago proven to be false.

“We will continue to do so and work together with the international community to overcome the pandemic,” Xi reportedly said.

China’s emphasis on “cooperation” comes alongside a new push by Xi to establish a “Health Silk Road,” a healthcare equivalent to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the dictator’s plan to use predatory lending to colonize transportation infrastructure around the world. Xi has already gotten the government of Italy – crippled significantly by the coronavirus pandemic due to its strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party – to agree to allow Chinese doctors to enter the Italian government-run healthcare system, ostensibly because Italy needs more medical professionals to keep up with the overwhelming number of coronavirus patients in its hospitals. China is also peddling its supplies and doctors to nations like Serbia and Spain. The latter country received a large shipment this week of coronavirus testing kits from China, all of which were faulty; China refused to take responsibility and claimed Madrid had incorrectly purchased them from an “unlicensed” company.

There is no such thing as private business in China; all companies are owned and run by members of the Communist Party.

The “Health Silk Road” is proving profitable for China, according to a report by the Hong Kong broadcast network RTHK. In January and February, nearly 9,000 “new manufacturers” opened to make medical masks to feed the national and global demand for medical supplies.

“As cases in the country have dwindled, the 34-year-old – who was previously in pharmaceuticals – is now profiting from new markets and exporting masks to Italy, where the death toll has overtaken that of the mainland [China],” RTHK noted, citing the owner of one of the 8,950 factories.

A report published this month showed that many of China’s factories nationwide are now relying on Uyghur Muslim slave labor for manufacturing. At least 83 global companies – including Apple, Gap, Nintendo, and BMW – use labor from factories that exploit Uyghur slaves. The use of Uyghur slaves nationwide is a new development, as the Communist Party had typically relegated them to the sprawling concentration camps of western Xinjiang, where they are indigenous to.

Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.

 

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