In the past week, stories in the media have been warning about the latest Covid-19 variant, the latest in a long list. It doesn’t seem like people are listening anymore.
In the minds of much of the public, the pandemic is long over and is firmly a thing of the past. The last thing most people want is another trip down the rabbit hole of restrictions, lockdowns, masks and vaccinations, with the past few years having seriously undermined the credibility of governments and public trust in them to do the right thing. And Western governments no longer have the political will or interest to dare make unpopular decisions, even if some are sounding the alarm. The pandemic in many respects was a turning point in government-public relations in Western countries, precisely because it was the first outbreak of such scale to occur in the age of mass social-media culture, where people, more connected than ever before, have the unrestricted capability to voice their own opinions, to hear the opinions of others, and with these to enact dissent against governments and their policies. The social-media era has already provided many significant challenges to state structures as it is, with Western governments scrambling to reassert a “narrative control” over their populations that they've since lost. Social-media freedom has played a critical role in – if not outright caused – outcomes which have shocked elites, be it the election of Donald Trump in the US, or Brexit in Britain. Subsequently, Western ruling classes have increased censorship and narrative policing on social media platforms through denouncing viewpoints they don’t like as “misinformation” or even as malicious propaganda by foreign actors like China or Russia. The Covid-19 pandemic thus saw one of the most comprehensive censorship campaigns Western governments had ever undertaken (at least before that of the Ukraine conflict), especially when it came to those who sought to question or challenge the need for vaccines. Governments have tried to aggressively reassert narrative control, stomping out dissent against their views, broadcast by establishment media. It would be foolish to deny that vaccines were important in combating the Covid-19 pandemic, even critical to saving lives, especially among the elderly and the vulnerable, but the manner in which this issue was conducted by governments has produced wholesale distrust in authority at large. That is not because vaccines are 'bad' but because people saw the profits being raked in by their Big Pharma producers, saw how aggressively governments were pushing for their implementation, and were skeptical as to whether the whole thing really served the “public interest.” In other words, the method (propaganda and censorship) defeated the objective (introducing vaccines to save lives). Big Pharma, of course, refers to a group of multinational drug- and medicine-producing companies which wield enough political influence and connections to be able to steer the public narrative towards endorsing their own products and which therefore exerts a monopoly over the perceived solutions to a health crisis or problem. These companies profited wholesale over the pandemic and to some extent influenced government policies over the issue. But more specifically, the narrative was steered to argue that the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were the only ones you should use, with Chinese and Russian competitors often receiving targeted negative coverage. Therefore, as it goes, public criticism of pandemic-related policies has grown because it is now more widely believed that these companies, armed with the media, exert “scaremongering” to fulfil their commercial goals. Combined with the influence of social media, this has created large-scale distrust, despite all evidence of how harmful and deadly the early forms of Covid were, especially for the sick and the elderly, and of the significant numbers of Covid-related deaths being reported to this day. As a result, continuing to sound alarm bells about new variants and the spread of the disease does more harm than good, because it reinforces perceptions that the media are attempting to scare populations with something that is not a real threat. The pandemic has had a politically exhausting effect that also came with a choppy transition back to 'real' life. The public is not interested in making sacrifices again in the name of a disease that is already perceived to have 'gone away,' especially when it is believed there is an agenda behind doing so – not just Big Pharma’s but also one of power centralization, censorship and narrative-control by governments. The pandemic and the Ukraine conflict together have marked part of a shift whereby Western states have sought to reassert power lost during the social-media era, but have only achieved the opposite effect.
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Hungarian-born Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman of the US have won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research that led directly to the first mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19, made by Pfizer and Moderna, according to the awarding body.
“The laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” the jury said in Sweden’s capital Stockholm on Monday. Katalin Kariko is a professor at Sagan’s University in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Drew Weissman conducted his prizewinning research together with Kariko at the University of Pennsylvania. The pair will receive their prize, consisting of a diploma, a gold medal and a $1m cheque, from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist Alfred Nobel who created the prizes in his last will and testament. The frontrunners for this year’s award in medicine included Kevan Shokat, an American biologist who figured out how to block the KRAS cancer gene behind a third of cancers, including challenging-to-treat lung, colon,\ and pancreatic tumours. Two American biologists, Stanislas Leibler and Michael Elowitz, were also in the run for their work on synthetic gene circuits which established the field of synthetic biology. It enables scientists to redesign organisms by engineering them to have new abilities. The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was won last year by Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for discoveries in human evolution that unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA which provided key insights into our immune system, including our vulnerability to severe COVID-19. The physics prize will be announced on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award on October 9. Klaus Schwab’s Daughter: ‘Permanent Climate Lockdowns Coming – Whether You Like It or Not’31/7/2023 According to Nicole Schwab, the COVID pandemic was a “tremendous opportunity” to test how the public would comply with the WEF’s plans to usher in their Great Reset agenda. The WEF’s promotion of the “climate emergency” narrative seeks to “create a change that is not incremental…to position nature at the core of the economy,” according to Schwab’s offspring.
Nicole Schwab made the admission in a newly unearthed video that was recorded during a WEF panel discussion back in 2020. The WEF lists Nicole Schwab as a “Member of the Executive Committee” of the WEF who is also the co-director of Platform to Accelerate Nature-Based Solutions & 1t.org. The group of WEF attendees were discussing how the fake threat of an “immediate emergency” can be used to further advance the WEF’s “Great Reset” plan for humanity. “This [COVID] crisis has shown us that first of all, things can shift very rapidly when we put our minds to it and when we feel the immediate emergency to our livelihoods,” Nicole Schwab declares. “And second, that clearly the system, I mean, you mentioned it earlier, that we had before is not sustainable.” “So I see it as a tremendous opportunity to really have this Great Reset and to use this huge flows of money — to use the increased levers that policymakers have today — in a way that was not possible before to create a change that is not incremental but that we can look back and we can say this is the moment where we really started to position nature at the core of the economy.” “Taking the point of view of business and economy and looking at where are there opportunities to create jobs and regenerate nature?” “And there are plenty of opportunities and this is again a mindset of actually innovation technology and a business growth can happen with a positive impact of nature and kind of laying out some of these examples.” “Regenerative agriculture is, of course, a huge part of that as well,” Schwab continued. “And one of the key reflection points here is also around engaging youth, and for me, it’s again, I come back to this shift in the mindset of the restoration generation can we conceive of ourselves as humans?” “I mean, you talked about a new humanity, I think you mentioned it right?” “Can we conceive of ourselves as a restoration generation?” “I think that’s where we need to go.” “I’m also hopeful that it’s possible, but I think it will take a lot of will, both political will but also in terms of the business actors, to break with business as usual but in a very serious way and to say we need to make very difficult choices.” “There are trade-offs but this is our chance and other, and this is about risk, and it’s about resilience because the shocks are coming are going to be even worse if we don’t do it now.” The WEF has been pushing the idea of “climate lockdowns” since Covid first emerged.In an article published by the WEF, the organization lauds how “billions” of people complied with Covid “restrictions.” The unelected organization continues by arguing that the public would do the same under the guise of reducing “carbon emissions.” Titled “My Carbon: An approach for inclusive and sustainable cities,” the article suggests that the same fear tactics could be used to impose further “restrictions” on the general public. The subject of the piece is how to convince people to adopt “personal carbon allowance programs.” Schwab’s group notes that improvements in tracking and surveillance technology are helping to overcome “political resistance” against such programs. “COVID-19 was the test of social responsibility,” the article notes. It continues by commending how “a huge number of unimaginable restrictions for public health were adopted by billions of citizens across the world.” “There were numerous examples globally of maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, mass vaccinations, and acceptance of contact-tracing applications for public health, which demonstrated the core of individual social responsibility,” the WEF adds. The organization goes on to cite how so many people complied with lockdown mandates, despite overwhelming evidence of the harmful consequences such restrictions had on society. The WEF then implies that the public would behave in a similarly obsequious manner in other areas of life.
Robert Jensen's career as a Dutch media personality has been defined by his provocative style, daring to challenge the mainstream and giving voice to alternative perspectives. While his unapologetic approach has garnered both admiration and criticism, there is no denying the significant impact he has had on the Dutch media landscape. Jensen's willingness to address taboo topics, invite dissenting voices, and question prevailing narratives has played a crucial role in promoting open dialogue and critical thinking. As the media landscape continues to evolve, Robert Jensen's influence will be remembered as a force that pushed boundaries and sparked important conversations.
The global economy had a rocky year in 2022. As the worst of COVID-19’s effects on public health receded, the war in Ukraine and China’s tough “zero COVID” curbs injected new chaos into global supply chains. Food and energy prices soared as inflation in many economies hit four-decade highs.
China’s reopening After nearly three years of punishing lockdowns, mass testing and border closures, China earlier this month began the process of unwinding its controversial “zero COVID” policy after rare mass protests. With draconian restrictions inside the country a thing of the past, China’s international borders are set to reopen from January 8. The reopening of the world’s second-largest economy — which has slowed dramatically during the last year — should inject new momentum into the global recovery. A rebound in Chinese consumer demand would give a boost to major exporters such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, while the end of restrictions offers relief to global brands from Apple to Tesla that suffered repeated disruptions under “zero COVID”. At the same time, China’s rapid U-turn away from “zero COVID” carries significant risks. While Beijing has stopped publishing COVID statistics, hospitals across China have been flooded with the sick, while morgues and crematoriums have reported being overwhelmed with the influx of bodies. Some medical experts have estimated that China could see up to 2 million deaths in the coming months. With the virus spreading rapidly among China’s colossal population, some health experts have also expressed concerns about the emergence of new and more dangerous variants. “Barring this very disruptive opening up, I think that the market will do great,” Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. “I would say once people see the end of the tunnel, so maybe the end of January, the end of the Chinese New Year, I would argue that’s when markets are really going to read a rapid recovery of the Chinese economy,” Garcia-Herrero added. “The other thing to watch is if there’s a major mutation, and mutations can be either less lethal but they could also be more lethal, and I think if the latter happens, and we start seeing closures of borders again, that would be traumatic for investor confidence.” Bankruptcies Despite the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19 and lockdowns, bankruptcies in fact declined in many countries in 2020 and 2021 due to a combination of out-of-court arrangements with creditors and large government stimulus. In the United States, for example, 16,140 businesses filed for bankruptcy in 2021, and 22,391 businesses did so in 2020, compared with 22,910 in 2019. That trend is expected to reverse in 2023 amid rising energy prices and interest rates. Allianz Trade has estimated that bankruptcies globally will rise more than 10 percent in 2022 and 19 percent in 2023, eclipsing pre-pandemic levels. “The COVID pandemic forced many businesses to take on substantial loans, worsening a situation of increasing dependence on cheap loans to make up for the loss of Western competitiveness due to globalisation,” Tziamalis said. “The survival of highly indebted businesses is now called into question as they face a perfect storm of higher interest rates, higher energy prices, more expensive raw materials and less consumption spending by consumers … It is also worth pointing out that the appetite of Western governments for any direct help to the private sector has been curbed by their increased deficits and prioritisation of support for households.” Fraying globalisation Efforts to roll back globalisation accelerated this year and look set to continue apace in 2023. Since its launch under the Trump administration, the US-China trade and tech war has deepened under US President Joe Biden. In August, Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act blocking the export of advanced chips and manufacturing equipment to China — a move aimed at stifling the development of the Chinese semiconductor industry and bolstering self-sufficiency in chip making. The passage of the law was just the latest example of a growing trend away from free trade and economic liberalisation towards protectionism and greater self-sufficiency, especially in critical industries linked to national security. In a speech earlier this month, Morris Chang, the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s biggest chip manufacturer, lamented that globalisation and free trade are “almost dead”. “The West, and particularly the US, are increasingly threatened by China’s economic trajectory and respond with economic and military pressure against the emerging superpower,” Tziamalis said. “An outright war over Taiwan is highly unlikely but more expensive imports and slower growth for all countries involved in this trade war are a near certainty.” The global economy had a rocky year in 2022. As the worst of COVID-19’s effects on public health receded, the war in Ukraine and China’s tough “zero COVID” curbs injected new chaos into global supply chains. Food and energy prices soared as inflation in many economies hit four-decade highs. After a tumultuous year, the global economy heads into 2023 in choppy waters. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine continues to roil food and energy markets, while rising interest rates threaten to smother the still-fragile post-pandemic recovery. On the positive side of the ledger, China’s reopening after three years of strict pandemic curbs offers a confidence boost for the global recovery — albeit tempered by fears that the rampant spread of the virus among the country’s 1.4 billion people could give rise to more lethal variants.
Inflation and interest rates Inflation is expected to decline globally in 2023 but nonetheless remain painfully high. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted global inflation will hit 6.5 percent next year, down from 8.8 percent in 2022. Developing economies are expected to have less relief, with inflation projected to only ease to 8.1 percent in 2023. “It’s likely that inflation will remain stubbornly higher than the 2 percent that most Western central banks have set as their benchmark,” Alexander Tziamalis, a senior economics lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. “Energy and raw materials will remain expensive for some time. The partial reversal of globalisation means more expensive imports, shortages of labour in many Western countries leads to more expensive production, and green transition measures to combat the greatest threat our species faces are all leading to higher inflation than we’ve been used to through the 2010s.” Slowing growth and recession While price growth is expected to ease in 2023, economic growth is certain to slow sharply alongside rising interest rates, too. The IMF has estimated that the global economy will grow just 2.7 percent in 2023, down from 3.2 percent in 2022. The OECD has projected a less lofty performance this year of 2.2 percent growth, compared with 3.1 percent in 2022. Many economists are more pessimistic and believe a global recession is likely in 2023, barely three years after the downturn caused by the pandemic. In a column last month, Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, painted a grim picture that was summed up by the article’s unequivocal title: “Why a global recession is inevitable in 2023”. Even if the global economy does not technically fall into recession — broadly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth — the IMF’s chief economist recently warned that 2023 may still feel like one for many people due to the combination of slowing growth, high prices and rising interest rates. “The three largest economies, the US, China and the euro area, will continue to stall,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in October. “In s After a period of unprecedented protests, China is going to relax corona rules across the country. People with mild symptoms and people who have tested positive but have no symptoms can remain in quarantine at home from now on. Until now, entire neighbourhoods and factories have been completely cut off from the outside world due to massive lockdowns. People were also transferred to quarantine facilities, which were overcrowded and unhygienic.
According to China's National Health Service, most infections are asymptomatic or result in mild symptoms, meaning those infected don't need any special treatment. "They can go into isolation at home and if their situation worsens, they can be transferred to a hospital." Whether this means the end of the zero-covid strategy, the health service has not said. Since the start of the corona pandemic, China has regarded covid-19 as an extremely dangerous virus in the same category as cholera or the bubonic plague. That attitude changed last week when experts concluded that the omikron variant is considerably less dangerous than previous mutations. The deputy prime minister responsible for fighting the virus confirmed this.
It comes just days before the Communist Party's National Congress, which only occurs every five years. A banner was unfurled on Sitong Bridge in the Chinese capital's Haidian district, brandishing the words: "We need food, not COVID tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns," in reference to China's strict zero-COVID policy.
"We want dignity, not lies. We need reform, no cultural revolution," the white banner continued in red letters. "We want to vote, not a leader. Don't be slaves, be citizens." 'Dictator Xi Jinping' heard on a megaphone Over a megaphone, a voice could be heard demanding: "Oust dictator Xi Jinping," according to footage circulating on social media. Smoke was also set off at the scene of the protest, and a scorched pavement could be seen from the same location later on Thursday. According to news agency dpa, police could also be seen taking one person into custody and loading him into a van while the banner was removed. Shortly after the protest, the search term "Sitong Bridge" was blocked on the Chinese short message service Weibo. The incidents come as members of the country’s ruling Communist Party gather for a twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle that begins Sunday. At the meeting, Xi is poised to tighten his grip as China's most powerful leader in decades by securing a third leadership term. British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Sept. 23 unveiled the UK’s biggest tax cuts since 1972 to tackle high energy costs and inflation, and to boost productivity and wages. However, the plan has roiled financial markets, as it lacks detailed forecasts on economic growth, inflation and public finances, and involves no firm commitments to fiscal discipline.
The concerns over the plan, coupled with the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fears of a global recession, pushed the British pound to an all-time low against the US dollar last week. Investors also ditched UK bonds as yields spiked amid expectations of ballooning government debt and even higher inflation. British equity markets also fell, with the blue-chip FTSE 100 hitting its lowest level since March. The volatility prompted the Bank of England to intervene by pledging unlimited purchases of long-dated bonds. However, the emergency measure is not expected to have major implications for the British central bank’s monetary policy, as it was deployed mainly to preserve financial stability. At the same time, investors would remain jittery about an ongoing bond sell-off once the two-week intervention period ends on Friday next week. Economists and investment strategists have said the British crisis could spill over to global markets, similar to Russia’s default on its domestic debt in 1998 and the Greek debt crisis in 2009, when domestic crises led to larger financial turmoil. Former US secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he was worried the British crisis might trigger a global crisis if the Truss government does not take steps to stop the bleeding in the pound and government bonds. As the pound is a global reserve currency, a balance-of-payment crisis in the UK could reverberate beyond the nation’s borders, Summers said. Seven Investment Management LLP strategist Ben Kumar said fear might be contagious and warned that UK equity outflows could prompt parallel selloffs worldwide, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. More importantly, the UK’s troubles this time around are not just market turmoil caused by its own fiscal policies, but a reflection of the vulnerability of financial markets as policymakers revise their monetary and fiscal strategies after years of ultra-loose monetary policies. Specifically, there is growing tension between monetary and fiscal policymakers, as central banks hike rates to fight inflation while other government agencies prefer low interest rates, tax cuts and other incentives to spur post-COVID-19 economic recovery. Many central banks have raised interest rates and some have adopted quantitative tightening by selling the assets they have accumulated over the years. This two-pronged tightening has led to dramatic volatility in interest rates worldwide and caused global currencies to weaken against the ever-surging US dollar, with the euro falling to its lowest in 20 years, the Chinese yuan dropping to a 14-year low and the New Taiwan dollar looking to test the critical barrier of NT$32 against the greenback. Over the past two years, the world has made a concerted effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, countries need to work more closely together in the face of a likely vicious cycle triggered by the synchronized rate hikes to avoid a global financial crisis. As for Taiwan, the government must make financial, economic and industrial adjustments to cope with the challenge of a potential global recession. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared on Wednesday that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is close at hand. While the virus is still spreading at the same level as last year, despite mass vaccination, deaths have fallen significantly. “We are not there yet. But the end is in sight,” Tedros said at a press briefing. Claiming that vaccination and other public health measures have reduced the threat posed by the virus, the WHO chief called on governments to push for 100% vaccination of vulnerable people and healthcare workers, and 70% vaccination of the general public. “A marathon runner does not stop when the finish line comes into view, she runs harder with all the energy that she has left,” he said. “Now is the worst time to stop running.” The impact of vaccines, masks, lockdowns, and other public health measures on the virus’ spread has been a controversial issue, with near-totally vaccinated countries like Singapore still experiencing waves of infection this summer that dwarfed similar spikes in 2021 and 2020. Some 3.1 million cases of Covid-19 were confirmed globally in the week ending September 5, compared to 3.9 million in the same week in 2021, and 1.9 million in the same week in 2020. Deaths have fallen, however, with 11,000 linked to the virus in the week ending September 5, the lowest weekly total since March 16, 2020. Tedros announced that the WHO would release six policy briefs for governments later on Wednesday, outlining the steps the organization thinks are necessary to avoid “more variants, more deaths, more destruction and more uncertainty.” Among these steps are the aforementioned vaccination push, the maintenance of infection control measures in hospitals, increased testing and sequencing, and the administration of appropriate treatment to patients.
We'll be fighting in the streets With our children at our feet And the morals that they worship will be gone And the men who spurred us on Sit in judgement of all wrong They decide and the shotgun sings the song I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again A change, it had to come We knew it all along We were liberated from the fold, that's all And the world looks just the same And history ain't changed 'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again, no, no I'll move myself and my family aside If we happen to be left half-alive I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky For I know that the hypnotized never lie Do you? Yeah There's nothing in the street Looks any different to me And the slogans are effaced, by-the-bye And the parting on the left Is now parting on the right And the beards have all grown longer overnight I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again Don't get fooled again, no, no Yeah Meet the new boss Same as the old boss © The Who
The Dead Daisies have announced a temporary new vocalist and bassist after Glenn Hughes was diagnosed with Covid. The band issued a statement on Monday afternoon (25th July) confirming that Glenn Hughes will be sitting out the rest of their European tour following his positive Covid test. David Lowy’s rock collective have drafted in Whitesnake’s Dino Jelusick as their new vocalist for their European tour dates, while Yogi Lonich will play bass. “We're sad to have to announce that the dreaded virus has hit the camp again with Glenn testing positive and unfortunately unable to continue,” The Dead Daisies said. “He's doing OK and please join us in wishing him a speedy recovery.“As Yogi filled in for David when he was crook, we're forging forward with Yogi playing bass and Dino Jelusick joining us on vocals for the rest of these shows. “We know some of you were coming to see Glenn but we hope you will still come out, rock with us and have a great time. “Too many bands find it easy to just cancel but we're determined to keep playing for you guys ... Rain, Hail, Heat or Virus. “If you do want to give it a miss, we're in the process of speaking with the promoters to work something out .. we'll keep you posted. “Look forward to seeing you at the shows.” The Dead Daisies support Judas Priest at Vienna Ancient Roman Theatre in France tonight (26th July) and they wrap up their European trek at Time To Rock Festival in Sweden on 5th August. The current incarnation of The Dead Daisies features Glenn Hughes, sole constant member David Lowy, guitarist Doug Aldrich and drummer Brian Tichy.
Alan Li no longer sees any future for his family in China after harsh Covid rules decimated his business, upended his son's education and left his country out of step with the rest of the world. He has given up hope of a return to normal after months of lockdowns in Shanghai, and now plans to close his firm and move to Hungary, where he sees better opportunities and his 13-year-old son can attend an international school.
"Our losses this year mean that it's over for us," he told AFP wearily, asking to withhold his real name. "We have been using our own cash savings to pay 400 workers (during the lockdown). What if it happens again this winter?" Shanghai's long shutdown, which brought food shortages and protests, has driven some to reconsider staying in a country where livelihoods and lifestyles can vanish at the whim of the state. Schools have been closed and exams called off, including assessments for applying to American universities. Li is frustrated that his son's expensive bilingual schooling has been mostly online for two years, and he is anxious about the way Beijing has tightened oversight of the curriculum. "This is a waste of our children's youth," Li said. Being fairly well off, he has been able to take advantage of a European investment scheme that grants him and his family residency in Budapest. "Many people know that if they sold all their assets they could 'lie flat' in a European country," he said, using a slang phrase meaning to take it easy. Beijing-based immigration consultant Guo Shize told AFP his company has seen an explosion of enquiries since March, including a threefold increase in Shanghai clients. Even after the lockdown eased, requests continued flooding in at more than double the usual level. "Once that spark has been lit in people's minds, it doesn't die down quickly," he said. Exit ban Censors have sought to suppress discussion of emigration, prompting nimble internet users to adopt the term "run" instead. Searches for the term on messaging app WeChat peaked during Shanghai's shutdown. But as more people consider ways to leave, Beijing has doubled down on strict exit policies for Chinese citizens. All "unnecessary" travel out of the country has been banned. Passport renewals have been all but halted, with authorities blaming the risk of Covid being carried into the country. In the first half of 2021, immigration authorities issued only two percent of the passports given out in the same period in 2019. One woman who emigrated to Germany told AFP she receives dozens of messages from Chinese people looking for tips on escaping. Emily, who did not want to use her real name, tried to help a relative obtain a new passport to take up a job in Europe, but the application was denied. "It's like being a child who wants to go to their friend's house to play but their parents won't let them leave," she said, adding that she has heard of passports being sold for up to 30,000 yuan ($4,500) on the black market. 'Absolutely insane' A Chinese freelancer told AFP he was turned back by immigration officers while attempting to fly to Turkey for work last October, despite having already checked in. "My itinerary sounded too suspicious to them. They took my passport into an office and 15 minutes later told me I do not meet the requirements" for leaving, he said on condition of anonymity. "It was absolutely insane." He managed to leave weeks later by entering semi-autonomous Macau on a different travel document, before catching an onward flight. Some are disillusioned with Beijing's growing controls, which have been ramped up during the pandemic. "I just want to live in a country where the government won't crudely interfere in my personal life," said Lucy, a 20-year-old student at an elite Beijing university involved in LGBTQI+ and Marxist activism. The virus policies had "allowed the government to control and monitor everything", she said. "Perhaps rather than accepting and adapting to this system, we must go elsewhere and create a new life." The Chinese government demands that the United States disclose full and detailed information about the activity of US military laboratories in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a news briefing while commenting on the Pentagon’s factsheet concerning support for Ukrainian biological facilities.
"Once again we call on the United States to explain fully and in detail the activities that it had carried out in Ukraine, and not the activity that was carried out by the Ukrainian side," he said. "Also, we urge the United States once more to drop objections to creating a verification protocol," Zhao added. The Pentagon on Thursday released a factsheet saying that over the past 20 years the US authorities supported 46 various civilian laboratories and health care centers in Ukraine as part of peaceful programs. Previously, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov stated that during the special military operation in Ukraine Russian forces unearthed evidence pointing to an emergency cleanup by the Kiev regime of traces of a military biological program, carried out in Ukraine and bankrolled by the US Defense Department. According to Konashenkov, staff from these Pentagon-run Ukrainian-based labs revealed the emergency disposal of particularly dangerous pathogens on February 24, namely, the plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases. US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland on March 9, speaking at a hearing at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate, said that there were facilities in Ukraine that did research in the field of biology and that Washington was trying to prevent them from falling under the control of Russian forces. Zhao has also branded the theory of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus leak from a Wuhan laboratory as "fabricated lies" and called for an investigation at two US biological laboratories. "Establishing the origin of coronavirus should be based on a scientific approach and be free of political intervention. The theory of a laboratory leak is a lie fabricated for political purposes. It completely defies logic," he said, commenting on a recent report by experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) in which they urged to study this theory in greater detail. "China has already organized visits of WHO expert groups several times. Their report clearly says that the theory of a coronavirus leak as a result of a laboratory incident is highly improbable," the diplomat added. "If we want to conduct an investigation, why not look at Fort Detrick as well as at the University of South Carolina. Both of these sites in the US are highly suspicious. And also, there is increasingly more evidence that coronavirus appeared in different parts of the world," the spokesman continued. On Thursday (June 9, 2022), the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) organized by the WHO published a report in which it urged to study the theory of a laboratory origin of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in greater detail. The SAGO consists of more than 20 experts, including specialists from Russia, Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, China, the US, France and South Africa. The March 2021 joint report by the WHO and China published following an international mission to Wuhan noted that the most likely scenario of the emergence of COVID-19 is the transmission of the disease from bats to another animal which subsequently infected humans. However, the specialists did not reach a conclusion as to how the virus appeared at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. There were also assumptions of its laboratory origin. China's "zero coronavirus" policy is facing a serious dilemma. The authorities there have imposed extremely severe movement restrictions to try and stamp out all traces of the virus, and this has got some results. But the long lockdown in Shanghai, the country's largest hub of international commerce, is inevitably starting to put a drag on the economy.
China's harsh lockdown measures are premised on successes in tamping down the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, where the virus was first reported. The measures got infections under control far more quickly than in Europe or the United States, and boosted Chinese President Xi Jinping's power at home. Then came the highly infectious omicron variant. Omicron spread, and the prevention methods focused on containment that were effective in Wuhan have had far less impact. In Shanghai, residents are barred from going outside, and even getting food is becoming more difficult. There have been cases reported of people with chronic health conditions dying because they could not access proper treatment. And some analysis suggests that these severe movement limitations have been expanded to cover dozens of cities. The resulting blow to the Chinese economy has been significant. The supply chain has been badly disrupted by production halts and clogged logistics channels. Economic growth for the January to March quarter was sluggish, falling far below the annualized target of "about 5.5%." Many observers both at home and abroad are sounding the alarm, but President Xi has insisted that "victory is a matter of sticking to" the lockdown measures. His stance is a marked contrast to the shift in other countries toward "living with the coronavirus." Each country is faced with deciding how to prevent the virus's spread. China, as the most populous nation on Earth, has not been able to build a healthcare system capable of covering all its many citizens. We understand that the prospect of an infection wave would be highly disconcerting to Chinese authorities. However, international cooperation is indispensable for any effort to confront a global pandemic. And China, as the world's second-largest economy in an era when countries are ever more dependent on one another, has a major role to play. One major worry is that continuing the "zero coronavirus" policy will become an end in itself for the Chinese government. We wonder if so much stock has been put into this policy as proof of the Chinese Communist Party's fitness to rule, that it has become difficult for the government to respond flexibly to changes in the situation. One senior Chinese government official stated emphatically that "it is a mistaken idea to try to live with the virus." However, the coronavirus crisis is likely to be with us for the long haul, and we are at a point where a flexible approach taking both the virus and the functioning of society is called into account. Obsessing over past success could very well damage the "stability" so prized by the Xi government. |
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