China, Covid-19, and Lies – USA Gov Policy

Most people agree a lie is an untruth. But who gets to decide what constitutes the truth? In the case of the China Covid-19 pandemic we hear competing “truths” coming from the country’s political leadership. Reports initially attributed the virus to a wet market in Wuhan that sold disease-ridden bats to unsuspecting consumers. When it was investigated further by foreign media working in the area, and the unbiased truth came out, those reporters were expelled from the country.

The reporters found it is not the custom of the local Wuhan population to eat bats. The specific bat blamed doesn’t live within 900 miles of the marketplace. And, there are two local virology laboratories in the province conducting research on very deadly corona-type viruses, of which Covid-19 is a new variety. A designated “Level 4” military-operated lab, that should have been able to handle the world’s most deadly bugs, lies only an hour away from the epicenter. Another lab experimenting on viruses is literally within a couple of miles of the suspected ground zero location.

The free flow of information, which often challenges the leadership in a democratic nation, is not permitted in China. It is outlawed. The belief of the leadership is that the truth reporters write about could potentially threaten the unity of the state and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That is bad for the CCP, stability in the country, and the legacy of President Xi Jinping. This was the perceived threat with the Covid-19 virus outbreak reporting. Thus, the so-called truth needed to evolve, according to the Chinese leadership.

News stories quickly emerged from Xinhua, the Chinese state media organ, reporting that the US military was to blame for the global pandemic. This new truth was fabricated as the means to achieve the Party’s end goal. China went to war waging a battle of words in an attempt to reshape the narrative and place blame far from its shores.

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Extensive use of planted social media news, tainted broadcasts on Chinese TV and radio, and public announcements from the head of the World Health Organization enabled China to gain some traction. Don’t forget, the Chinese supported the leader of WHO, which enabled him to get his position. He owed them! The CCP leadership all were instantly on board with the new truth. The Chinese propaganda machine works fast, is extensive, acts aggressively, and serves as a tool of President Xi to achieve his end goals.

The CCP and its top leadership, including President Xi, are experts at misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. Coverage of the Covid-19 virus reporting is no exception. When the global media began to question China’s initial handling of the outbreak they went to work with several objectives in mind. The CCP determined it needed to focus on securing the Party’s legitimacy in the eyes of the Chinese population and ensure its future, singular hold over the country. President Xi also needed to protect his legacy and keep the reorganization and modernization programs on track.World leaders need to recognize the extent to which the CCP will stretch, or create, a “new truth” to fit its purposes. If the world is to prepare itself to handle this and future pandemics there must be transparency and the free flow of information. Over 2,500 years ago Sun Tzu wrote that warfare is the way (Dao) of deception. If China is willing to put the health of the world at risk then, perhaps, it is time to reconsider whether the west has been duped into believing falsely the government of China is benign and a lao pengyou, “old-friend,” we recently rediscovered.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Friday, she presents key updates on China.

Illustration: Pixabay

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U.S. Navy Losing Dominance

From the Caribbean to the Mediterranean to the Pacific, the naval forces of Russia and China have challenged the once-dominant position of the United States. On July 18, U.S. Army Gen. Laura J. Richardson, in a speech at the Aspen Institute, warned that Russian warships have been making port visits to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and 22 nations in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility has signed on to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the commander of Southcom told attendees of the Aspen Security Forum. Army Gen. Laura J. Richardson said the nations that have signed on to the Chinese initiative don’t see the investments the U.S. has been making in their countries. “All they see are the Chinese cranes,” she said. “These projects are in the billions of dollars. … They are big-time projects.” Richardson said it would be OK with her if those investments were for doing good in the hemisphere. “But it makes me a little suspicious when it’s in the critical infrastructure.” Critical infrastructure, she said, includes deep-water ports, cybersecurity, energy and space. “I worry about the dual use nature of that. These are state-owned enterprises by a communist government. I worry about the flipping of that to a military application,” Richardson said, referring to China. Regarding the Russian port visits, Richardson said U.S. vessels have been shadowing those vessels to ensure the safety and security of the United States. Also, the Russians continue to make high-level government visits to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua with their foreign affairs minister and the head of the Russian legislative body, she said, adding that the U.S. could be doing more in its own government exchanges. “I really believe that economic security and national security go hand in hand here in this hemisphere, and we have got to work both of them together very, very quickly,” she said. In the Mediterranean, according to the Bulgarian Military A fleet, including the missile cruiser Varyag and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, has successfully navigated the Suez Canal, transitioning from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, as confirmed by the Pacific Fleet [PF] on Wednesday. The authoritative GIS Reports notes that “In the crucial Indo-Pacific, the tide has changed dramatically against America. the balance of naval power in the Western Pacific has been altered in favor of the Chinese Navy. For instance, the U.S. Navy went from having a 76-warship advantage over China in 2005 to having a 39-combatant deficiency in 2023, based on similar ship and submarine comparisons. That is a swing of 115 naval platforms in 23 years. This is a strategic trend that will continue uninterrupted for at least the next decade.” Rep. Mike Rogers has previously pointed out that The Biden Administration’s 30-year ship-building plan reduces the Navy’s ability to protect its aircraft-carrier strike groups and eliminate enemy minefields, reduces the Marine Corps’ ability to conduct forcible-entry missions, and reduces by almost 10 percent the Navy’s capacity to launch missiles. Public estimates indicate that China will eventually develop a global force of submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles, posing an obvious risk to the U.S. China’s surface-combatant forces already greatly exceed that of the U.S. Photo: Vessels attached to a flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command sail toward the designated area during a comprehensive combat training exercise in late June, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Huang Jiacheng and Wang Jian)

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