How NGOs And Newspapers In Germany Propagandize Chinese 'Querdenker' Zhang Zhan
Today a number of U.S. aligned non government organizations launched an anti-China campaign in Germany.
Reporters Without Boarders (RSF) led the campaign together with PEN, Amnesty International and a Germany journalist union. They called for an hour long tweet storm to demand of that German politicians should act to get the Chinese 'journalist' Zhang Zhan released from prison in China.
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The campaign was somewhat successful. A search for the #ZhangZhan hashtag used show that a lot of ill informed people, including many journalists, tweeted or retweeted the issue.
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The misinformation spread by Robin Alexander in the above tweet is pretty heavy but not unusual.
Zhang Zhan is not a journalist. She was not one of the first to post video from Wuhan. She did not report on the COVID-19 but protested against the successful lockdown. She is not in jail for that reason.
The German news sites Süddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel report about the RSF campaign. Those news reports are even worse than the re-tweets. The Spiegel, for example, claims that Zhang Zhan was 'tortured and imprisoned for her reporting of the Chinese government's bad handling of the plague.'
Germany has exceeded 100,000 deaths from Covid and is currently in a record breaking 4th wave. China has had less than 5,000 death and is free of Covid. Given that it seems pretty lunatic to me to accuse China of a 'bad handling of the plague'. Also - to my knowledge no 'torture' has ever been alleged to have happened in the Zhang Zhan case. The Spiegel made that up.
We looked at the Zhang Zhan case in December 2020 when the 'mighty Wurlitzer' played her song simultaneously in many major media including the BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, CBSnews and Sky.
The Trump loving anti-China Epoch Times subtitled the video Zhang Zhan had made when she, in early February of 2020, went from Shanghai to Wuhun which was under strict but successful lockdown. It also described and translated it:
Location: Wuhan City, Hubei ProvinceZhang Zhan, a female dissident living in Shanghai, put herself in harm’s way to go to Wuhan after the city was locked down. Her plan was to investigate and broadcast the local situation as a citizen journalist. She is outraged that the Chinese government casually deprives the basic rights and freedom of Wuhan residents in the name of epidemic control.
Woman: Let me ask you,
Do you think the government can treat citizens like animals?
Lock them when the regime is willing to,
Send them out to work when they need these people to work.
Aren’t you treating them like you treat cattle and horses?
When animals need to graze you let them out
And take them back when they are done eating.
Is that for real?
And if they do not obey, whip them.
Is that how it should be?
Is it justified to treat civilians like this?
Man: What are you doing?
Woman: I want to express my protest against the government, persistent protest.
Immediately before the man asked 'what are you doing' Zhang Zhan is seen in the video intentionally knocking over a traffic barrier at a health checkpoint.
Zhang Zhan was not 'reporting'. She was, in her own words, expressing persistent protest against the government. She did so while filming that protest to then upload it on Youtube and Twitter (both of which are blocked in China).
Zhang Zhan was not arrested at that time though she probably should have been. In a different piece the Epoch Times explains:
On May 13, Zhang posted a YouTube video in which she spoke in front of the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan. In the video, she criticized the local government’s plan to roll out virus testing at $180 yuan (about $25) per person as too high a price, noting that locals had been under lockdown for months.She added that while human rights have been trampled during the outbreak, people would likely be willing to foot the bill in hopes of proving they were virus free. In order to pass security checkpoints in many cities, citizens must present a mobile-app-generated code that proves they are virus-free.
She also called out intimidation tactics adopted by Wuhan authorities to try to control the spread of the virus, saying they were a “sorrow of the country.”
A day later, she went missing.
All testing in China during the various outbreaks has been free of charge. In mid May there was a small new outbreak in Wuhan with a total of six cases of Covid-19 identified. Zhang Zhan was quoted at that time on the CIA's Radio Free Asia website with the false claim that 'There are signs of a resurgence of the epidemic in Wuhan.'
Zhang Zhan was arrested in May 2020 for spreading fake news about a government test-for-money plan that did not exist and other false Covid claims she had made. It was not the first time that Zhang Zhan had got herself into trouble. She had a short stint in prison in late 2019 also under the charge of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble', a law that covers spreading fakenews on the Internet.
The South China Morning Post reported that, while in jail, Zhang Zhan went on 'intermitted hunger strike' (whatever that may mean). In December 2020 she was sentenced to four years in prison:
The sentence was in response to reports that she live-streamed from Wuhan on social media platforms, including Twitter and YouTube, which are both blocked in China.She also wrote an article critical of the official response to the outbreak, accusing authorities of infringing people’s rights and covering up the severity of the epidemic.
Her coverage was deemed “maliciously fabricated content and false information” and she became the first so-called citizen journalist tried by a Chinese court for reporting on the coronavirus outbreaks in the city.
The World Health Organization has warned of the danger of false information during a pandemic:
An infodemic can have direct negative impacts on the health of populations and the public health response by undermining the trust in science and interventions. We are also seeing that infodemics hinder the cohesiveness of societies by increasing existing social inequities, stigma, gender disparity and generational rift.
The WHO called on governments to take 'measures to counter misinformation and disinformation'.
China did that when it finally arrested Zhang Zhan and put the repeating offender into prison.
Zhang Zhan is a 'dissident' who has protested against the sensible epidemic measures the Chinese government took to defeat the pandemic within its country. The 'former Christian lawyer' Zhang Zha has similar radical libertarian opinions about pandemic measures as the 'Querdenker' (lit. 'lateral thinkers') in Germany who protest against wearing masks and lockdowns and the various Covid deniers and radical anti-vaxers elsewhere.
RSF has just awarded Zhang Zha, among others, its Press Freedom Award 2021.
That RSF, Amnesty, Pen and the DJU support her cause says a lot about those organizations' lack of integrity.
Posted by b on November 29, 2021 at 18:59 UTC | Permalink
next page »I see the timing of her activities coincides with the HK riots and was likely an attempt to foment the same within the Mainland. With Germany's foreign policy to be led by CIA-ally Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock, this sort of action isn't surprising as the Empire's attempts to slow down China's advancement become even more hysterical. IMO, her first actions merit close watching given CIA control of Germany's Greens.
Thank you b for an excellent reveal of the fake news networks.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 29 2021 19:25 utc | 3
Meanwhile the folks from Jan 6 remain imprisoned without bail and so does Julian Assange. And we make a stink about this? Come to think of it didn't we raise a fuss about some "opposition leader" in Russia who got arrested, but at least has a clearly defined jail term for a financial crime.
Posted by: erik | Nov 29 2021 19:31 utc | 4
b wrote,
"Germany has exceeded 100,000 deaths from Covid and is now in a record breaking 4th wave. China has had less than 5,000 death and is free of Covid."
Are people who died **with** covid
being lumped
together with died **of** covid?
If someone were to die **with** vaccine
they wouldn't be lumped
together with died **of** vaccine.
Posted by: librul | Nov 29 2021 19:31 utc | 5
Posted by: erik | Nov 29 2021 19:31 utc | 4
Equating the (in many cases admittedly excessive) imprisonment rioters of January 6th with Julian Assange is disingenuous at best. Of course the MSM doesn't report much on the Jan 6 rioters being held with ridiculous or no bail, but none of them are facing a supermax or execution and I'm sure all of them will one day soon walk free including the ones convicted and sentenced. Assange was unlawfully imprisoned for nearly a decade, spied on, sabotaged, threatened by the highest ranking politicians, and subjected to a show trial in a kangaroo court where black was truly white and up was down. He'll probably never walk free and could die in a high security prison without any conviction of a crime whatsoever.
Re: China, the topic of the thread, I couldn't help but recall a piece the late Mike Gravel wrote on China, tying the Tiananmen Square "Massacre" to the Western corporate media and Western governments constant, pervasive smearing of China including the news about the Uighur (extremist) community.
Today we're told that The Simpsons, a bastion of American "free speech" was censored by the Chinese (gasp!) because they had made reference to the "massacre" in Episode 12 of the final season airing now.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/simpsons-china-censorship-1235053711/
Gravel succinctly shot these narratives down (as have a few media outlets, albeit quietly and still telling lies) here.
https://mikegravel.com/30-years-after-tiananmen-square-the-u-s-is-still-trying-to-destabilize-china/
No wonder he was never allowed a fair shot at becoming the Demonrats' nominee.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 19:50 utc | 6
. . .from the Paris-based RSF website, on financial supporters:
"The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) supports RSF’s reporting of media freedom violations throughout the world and especially in Asia." . .here
What is the NED?
The National Endowment for Democracy is an organization established by the U.S. government in 1983 to promote "democracy" around the world. The NED has been especially involved in the Uyghur unrest and rioting in China's Xinjiang province.
At the heart of the US anti-China movement is the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), an international Uyghur organization that claims to be engaged in a “peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic” struggle for “human rights.” From its inception, the WUC has been backed by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). With millions in US taxpayer money, the NED and its subsidiaries have backed opposition parties, “civil society” groups, and media organizations in countries targeted by the US for regime change.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 29 2021 19:58 utc | 7
"China has had less than 5,000 death and is free of Covid. "
Please share what you are smoking.
Posted by: seedeevee | Nov 29 2021 20:07 utc | 8
"Democracy" just means rule of the media. Most of people are gullible, stupid or simply follow the herd, so he who controls the media will successfully instruct most of he population who to vote for. In this case, "China bad", please elect anti-China government on next elections in Germany, thank you.
Posted by: Abe | Nov 29 2021 20:08 utc | 9
I turn to Yahoo's collection of "News items" each morning, not so much to find the News, as to see what new lies are being told today. Sadly, although every article I can find is stuffed with lies about China, Russia, Iran and (When it is mentioned!) Syria; they are all old lies which are recycled over and over again. So BORING!
Posted by: foolisholdman | Nov 29 2021 20:12 utc | 10
Another good post.
If this is the most important human rights abuse China haters can summon up for China, China really is human rights nirvana….
Posted by: Allen | Nov 29 2021 20:21 utc | 11
Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 19:50 utc | 7
thank you for the Gravel piece especially.
Westerners accept this fabrication called the "Holodomor" because Stalin was not awful enough for them to suit their bullshit propaganda needs.
Americans know literally nothing about China. but we all love, love, love people standing up to tanks, don't we? so exciting, more guns would only mean more tv land adventure, more love for fake heroes in other lands. 30 million died in Mao's big jump sideways! i read some indian killer say it, so it must be true.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Nov 29 2021 20:23 utc | 12
Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 19:50 utc | 7
Americans shocked to discover that Disney is a business!
they come over here, steal our jobs, steal our technology, steal our science and medicine, and now they steal our entertainment! those Chinese monsters are worse than Godzilla. Korean animators need to rise up and stop this cultural erasure.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Nov 29 2021 20:31 utc | 13
seedeevee @ 9
And your information comes from?
You've been smoking up to much MSM narrative it seems.
Posted by: A.L. | Nov 29 2021 20:40 utc | 14
Working on the theory that the Turkeys' best friend is the farmer until the last moment, (he provides the nourishment before the chop), Zang Zahn must have a certain sacrificial value. She is unlikely to last long.
*****
At one time I was a donator to Amnesty. The day that the Head of the American section was promoted from a post at the state department, and was named as a personal friend of Hillary Clinton, I stopped. That was some time ago, but I doubt that their priorities have changed since. (Anyone not American bad-bad.)
The trouble is that ALL NGO's are now suspicious. Both Russia and Belarus are getting rid of them. As are many South American States. Some might have been useful but as others have been "weaponised", they have all been discredited. The smallest, the youngest and the weakest suffer.
***********
Kuru | Nov 29 2021 19:22 utc | 3
The "Popcorn" variant comes after Omicron..
Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 29 2021 20:45 utc | 15
love people standing up to tanks, don't we?
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Nov 29 2021 20:23 utc | 13
And he's not even one of the student protester!
Yup and the same dude now 30 years later is still jay-walking, but clutching gucci bags and in front of rolls royces...
Posted by: A.L. | Nov 29 2021 20:48 utc | 16
thanks b... excellent coverage on this topic, which is a continuation of the same cia - ngo supported bullshit that never seems to end...
Posted by: james | Nov 29 2021 20:51 utc | 17
Thanks b.
The USA has only one trick in the playbook: recreate a scenario of a just war (i.e. ww2). It seems as though every war since has had to replicate the same moral oppositions to justify military adventurism. The MSM are really just softening us up by casting China as a generic 'evil empire'. Even my mother, a usually critical reader of the press, talks about China as though it was the Third Reich which is 'trying to take over the world'. The cognitive dissonance (as b rightly pointed out when comparing Germany's COVID response to China's) is alarming: it is China that is ringed by an aggressive imperial navy but we're to imagine it's purely defensive.
What's the endgame here? Regime change? That will never happen. Ever. Economic strangulation? Ditto. The global entanglement is never discussed but organises the world. War? I'm afraid this is what the world is being set up to accept.
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 29 2021 21:02 utc | 18
james @ 18
Yes, only way is to kick them out. Unfortunate for what remains of the few true neutral NGOs but i guess that's collateral damage.
HK has long been a beach head for these NGOs to exert themselves into China. Now all those scurrying out (including amnesty international) after the passage of the HK national security law know they have skeleton in their closets.
Good riddance.
Posted by: A.L. | Nov 29 2021 21:13 utc | 19
Amnesty International can go do one.
I cancelled my contributions decades ago when they were heavily promoting the laughing stooge. Dalia Lama.
I urge any who still believe in their right on-ness and the Pytho s Secret Policeman’s Balls to wake the fuck up
As for these fake journals and their fake concerns for dodgy bloggers - double fuck off.
Craig returns in the morning - FREEDOM!
https://mobile.twitter.com/cmurrayjustice/status/1460953948425269248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1460953948425269248%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.craigmurray.org.uk%2F
Next Assange.
Posted by: D.G. | Nov 29 2021 21:19 utc | 20
"Le gouvernement américain donne la priorité à l’élargissement de l’accès humanitaire à toute la Syrie afin d’alléger les souffrances du peuple syrien qui continue de faire face aux conflits armés, à l’insécurité alimentaire et à la pandémie de Covid-19", a déclaré Andrea Gacki, directrice du Bureau du contrôle des avoirs étrangers (OFAC)."
Continuing the NGO part of the topic. The US has made a "surprise" announcement to lessen the sanctions affecting Syria to allow more NGO's to operate. Except that what might be included is the "Turkish Wheat" which now contains a specifically designed nasty form of Bio-warfare. Helminths -> Worms.
Which sort of worms, I don't know, but Syrian citizens have already been warned not to eat or plant the grains, that come under this "generous" donation.
**
A reminder that the US steals Syrian grown wheat from the Eastern part it controls. That wheat is a special, as it can resist drought.
****
The biblical Herod died of worms.
Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 29 2021 21:20 utc | 21
The "Tank Man" showed genuine courage in stopping a fleet of tanks from entering the Tienanmen square. I can't conjure that image up in my head without thinking of the superhuman bravery needed to pull that kind of stunt, as reckless and ineffectual as it ultimately was. Unfortunately, the images of PLA soldiers being killed and tortured by the protesters never get press in the West, even though these images help to provide context to the government's response.
Another thing that goes unmentioned about the "Tank Man" image: he was escorted to safety. The tanks didn't run him over. That level of restraint is unheard of in America, where cops will escalate protests into full blown riots on a whim. Or for a Latin American example, compare the death toll of the Hong Kong protests with recent protests against Uribe in Colombia, or the almost routine state-sanctioned massacres of students in Mexico. The records of Communist governments are positively saintly in comparison to what the Anglo Empire sanctions in its client states or its internal colonies.
Posted by: fnord | Nov 29 2021 21:30 utc | 22
Patroklos @19 et al--
Note that Anti-China crap is always about what China does to people, never a word about what China does for people, like lifting twice the Outlaw US Empire's population out of poverty, while those within the Empire see their living standards shrink daily. Has anyone seen or heard any rebuttal to the essay written by the Russian and Chinese Ambassadors to the Outlaw US Empire and published by The National Interest? I very much doubt one peep was uttered or written since that would directly undermine the Duopoly and its oligarchy. Americans can't be bothered with truths about their government. Note the tactic; BigLie Media never says anything directly about Xi or Putin as it merely echoes what the Imperial Liars say. Same with EU: It never directly answers Putin, Lavrov or Shoigu and treaty-related requests from Russian or Chinese government agencies. Currently, Google continues to ignore fines levied on it for violating Russian law, "fines imposed on Google by Russian courts since the beginning of the year have totaled over 40 million rubles."
So, we have a rather skewed diplomatic discourse: We'll tell any lies about you we want but we won't allow your rebuttals to be heard as they'll be continually ignored. IMO, that doesn't bode well for the maintenance of peace.
Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 29 2021 21:20 utc | 22
Although 'worms' was the generic death of the persecutor in Late Antiquity: see Lactantius . What actually carried them off is moot.
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 29 2021 21:36 utc | 24
@25
especially Lactantius de mortibus persecutorum.
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 29 2021 21:39 utc | 25
Meanwhile the Groan ploughs its Uyghur furrow as part of anti Xi crap.
“The transcripts were peer reviewed by Dr James Millward, professor of inter-societal history at Georgetown University Washington and Dr David Tobin lecturer in east Asian studies at the University of Sheffield. Some have been redacted to remove reception stamps. “
The tawdry Guardian and it’s DS Stenographers Patrick Wintour spews more CIA academia bs.
Is it to do with the submarine revelations?
————
@ Posted by: fnord | Nov 29 2021 21:30 utc | 23
“ The "Tank Man" showed genuine courage in stopping a fleet of tanks from entering the Tienanmen square.”
That is a bare faced LIE. You better back it up.
The Tanks were leaving and he wanted them to go back!
Posted by: D.G. | Nov 29 2021 21:44 utc | 26
@5 librul
Death certificates have a line for "Underlying cause of death" (UCOD) which is the "Part I" of a death certificate.
There is also a "Part II" which is for conditions that contribute to the death, but are not regarded as the UCOD.
But as the CDC guidelines point out: "Not all conditions present at the time of death have to be reported—only those conditions that actually contributed to death."
So in answer to your question "Are people who died **with** covid being lumped together with died **of** covid?
The answer is "No, they are not". Simply having covid is not enough for it to be listed on the death certificate.
Your covid infection has to actually have contributed to your death for it to be listed on the death certificate.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Nov 29 2021 21:49 utc | 27
@Posted by: Yeah, Right | Nov 29 2021 21:49 utc | 28
Yeah, right.
Posted by: librul | Nov 29 2021 21:59 utc | 28
Yeah, right@28
You need to brush up on your assertion regarding this. It has been shown multiple times that there is really no distinction between 'with' and 'from'.
FYI I will not be engaging in any further covid discussion concerning this. There is a lot of publicly available information on this topic.
Posted by: David F | Nov 29 2021 22:00 utc | 29
@ Posted by: D.G. | Nov 29 2021 21:44 utc | 27
The Tanks were leaving and he wanted them to go back!
Would love to see a source claiming that.
Posted by: fnord | Nov 29 2021 22:04 utc | 30
You've got a nasty authoritarian streak, b. There's no question you're implying that because she has spread "misinformation" the Chinese are morally entitled to imprison her.
Given how your critics characterise your blog as "minsinformation", would you feel the same about your own incarceration?
And quoting the CCP's Covid stats like gospel is... surprising, to say the least.
Posted by: Observer | Nov 29 2021 22:04 utc | 31
Posted by: fnord | Nov 29 2021 21:30 utc | 23
As Gravel explains in the piece I linked above, the "Tank Man" incident occurred the day after the square had been cleared.
It’s no wonder the anonymous ‘tank man’ in the internationally circulated iconic footage isn’t surrounded by the “thousands” of presumed corpses in the streets of what was then the largest public space in the world. Then again, the infamous stand-off between the unidentified protester and the tanks didn’t actually occur until June 5th, the following day after the protests concluded, a significant detail that has been curiously suppressed.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 22:05 utc | 32
Patroklos | Nov 29 2021 21:36 utc | 25
Worms, Much more graphic and easily understandable to many populations, then and now. Although some other undesired and undisclosed means may well have been the real cause. "Poison" would have meant looking for a culprit - and if the courtiers were all compromised, then an environmental "cause" would not "open a can of worms", so to speak.
***
Patroklos | Nov 29 2021 21:39 utc | 26
"Lactantius de mortibus persecutorum."
Having rapidly skimmed a couple of the first few chapters, I can see why they didn't need retirement plans !
Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 29 2021 22:09 utc | 33
Patroklos | Nov 29 2021 21:39 utc | 26
In English of course.
Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 29 2021 22:11 utc | 34
@Posted by: David F | Nov 29 2021 22:00 utc | 30
A quick search:
According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), there is no difference when it comes to tracking and reporting COVID deaths. OHA spokesman Jonathan Modie explained in an email how the state determines what is counted as a COVID-19 death:We consider COVID-19 deaths to be:
Deaths in which a patient hospitalized for any reason within 14 days of a positive COVID-19 test result dies in the hospital or within the 60 days following discharge.
Deaths in which COVID-19 is listed as a primary or contributing cause of death on a death certificate.
We count COVID-19 deaths this way because the virus can often have effects on an individual’s health that may complicate their recovery from other diseases and conditions, even injuries, and indirectly contribute to their death. Another reason is because OHA is using this data to track the spread of the disease, and to create actionable steps for stopping its spread.
So what does that policy mean in practice? We asked Modie about a hypothetical case where someone died from a motorcycle crash and also had COVID-19. Would that be counted as a COVID-19 death?
“It would be,” Modie explained. “But I must go back to the point about how we used this data, which is to help us track how COVID-19 is spread in the community.”
He added that the state follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for reporting deaths.
Posted by: librul | Nov 29 2021 22:12 utc | 35
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Nov 29 2021 20:23 utc | 13
By most accounts the Holodomor was real, but unlikely resulting primarily from malice on the part of Stalin, but rather the Soviet state (and Stalin's) stupid belief in a quack scientist who was responsible for the failure of crops leading to famine. Kind of the equivalent of feeding the plants Brawndo like in "Idiocracy" a rather funny comedy film that present day reality is already proving was also a rather accurate predictor of the American future. LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vw2CrY9Igs
What's the over/under on how many years before actual White House dialogue mimics that clip?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 22:14 utc | 36
And quoting the CCP's Covid stats like gospel is... surprising, to say the least.
Posted by: Observer | Nov 29 2021 22:04 utc | 33
And pray tell
No one i know, friends and family, and none of their friends and families know of any first hand deaths in China. And i do have direct family contacts living in wuhan.
It is but one data point but nonetheless useful to contrast that with your experience in US or Europe perhaps.
May be you should wake the fk up and do some observing.
Observer indeed...
Posted by: A.L. | Nov 29 2021 22:19 utc | 37
@ Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 22:05 utc | 34
Interesting, Western narratives left me with the impression that the image was captured at the height of the protests. I stand corrected.
Posted by: fnord | Nov 29 2021 22:21 utc | 38
@23
Video from CNN
Holy cow! Even on CNN's video you can clearly see the tanks are leaving the square. Somehow this fact never gets mentioned.
Posted by: Chunglak | Nov 29 2021 22:23 utc | 39
Librul@37
Thanks for proving my point. That should head off any arguments about this (at least in a sane and rational world), I am willing to bet a beer that it doesn't though.
Cheers.
Posted by: David F | Nov 29 2021 22:25 utc | 40
@fnord it is the photographer of the picture who say this, that tanks was leaving and the guy tried to stop them doing that. It seems you got stuck with a propaganda fnord. I do even check is the date right when I am starting to have a look in any newspaper, but especially when the article is about China and covid, the big C‘s in our life.
Posted by: rico rose | Nov 29 2021 22:31 utc | 41
Telling the truth may not be a crime but it can still get you jail time. Ask Craig Murray. He will be released tomorrow after 4 months in jail… for telling the truth. A shame that a similar press campaign was not launched on his behalf across U.K. and the rest of Europe.
Posted by: Phil Espin | Nov 29 2021 22:32 utc | 42
fnord @ 40
Check out moonofshanghai (lol) if you want to take a bit more of a deep dive into the tiananmem incident.
Be warned though, there are some graphic pictures.
Posted by: A.L. | Nov 29 2021 22:32 utc | 43
The larger photo of "tankman" showing the column leaving Tiananman Square
https://anti-empire.com/the-truth-about-the-iconic-tiananmen-tankman-photo/
Posted by: Lone Plateau | Nov 29 2021 22:38 utc | 44
"China has had less than 5,000 death and is free of Covid. "
Please share what you are smoking.
Posted by: seedeevee | Nov 29 2021 20:07 utc | 9
Yeah, these lowly "chicoms", "chinks", "yellow monkeys" can never do what the West can't do (get rid of Covid), right? How dare those "chinks" destroy your sumpremacist delusions.
Posted by: Passer by | Nov 29 2021 22:53 utc | 45
Thanks b. The West keeps churning out more misinformation and disinformation against China. Your article on the Chinese tennis player Peng, is another case in point. IMHO there will be no more riots whipped up by the NED such as was done in Hong Kong.
Posted by: Michael Crockett | Nov 29 2021 22:55 utc | 46
"The first casualty when war comes is truth"
..that phrase has been around a long time, as evidenced here.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 29 2021 23:17 utc | 47
Intermitted hunger strike? Nice, I do that twice a day. Can I have some freebies or even a publicly nicely paid job, too?
As for jailing Querdenker, looks like Central Europe could learn a lot from China.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Nov 29 2021 23:23 utc | 48
The biblical Herod died of worms.
Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 29 2021 21:20 utc | 22
Germans had Diet of Worms for a few hundred years, and they survived. (The food is better now.). This story is quit suspicious. Eggs of worms are plentiful in soil, and contaminated grain can be easily explained, if it happened. Worms that affect humans do not east grain. For human consumption, grain is baked or boiled for a long time, the real danger is from vegetables, but studies showed that thorough washing is effective. And when the worst happens, infections are easy to cure with inexpensive medicines. I hope that Syria has those medicines (but I would worry about Yemen which has much more severe blockade.)
To summarize, the story seems to combine dirty grain and a reference to an actual bio-weapon program. BTW, there should be no danger in sawing dirty grain, the soil would have worm eggs in any case.
And congrats to Germans that they eliminated Diet of Worms.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Nov 29 2021 23:34 utc | 49
Posted by: Chunglak | Nov 29 2021 22:23 utc | 41
Nice. Thank you for that. Indisputable proof that the tanks were leaving and there were no corpses in the square. None other than those of Chinese troops who were lynched, burned alive and murdered while trying to peacefully re-direct the mob of rioters and students who were manipulated by USUK (and likely Tawianese) propaganda.
https://www.moonofshanghai.com/2020/04/tiananmen-square-failure-of-american.html
Another student made these comments: “But it was true that the 1989 student movement was being manipulated by someone, wasn’t it? The students had nothing but emotions and superficial knowledge of politics. We started only demanding the cleaning up of corruption by officials, yet the slogans were somehow led through a transformation into ones “demanding democracy”. There is a huge difference in political implication between these two classes of demands. So what was democracy? What kind of democracy was practiced in the west? What kind of democracy would befit China? Frankly, I (we) didn’t have clue. In other words, I didn’t know what I really wanted. I simply had this … resulting impulse to go onto the street and shout slogans. It was as if I participated just to participate and I was moved by the simple fact of experiencing a students movement. And then things got out of control. But because the student leaders refused to change stance, the students wouldn’t back off. So the whole thing dragged on. Yet a miracle happened, those “leaders” somehow managed to escape unharmed. For many years since 1989, I had been reluctant to accept that I and the other students were actually so stupid and naive to be truly manipulated by others behind the scene.”
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 23:35 utc | 50
"China has had less than 5,000 death and is free of Covid. "
Please share what you are smoking.
Posted by: seedeevee | Nov 29 2021 20:07 utc | 9
From World-Odometer------------
China.....
Total Cases 98,672 New Cases +41 Total Deaths..4,636
I am smoking nothing....
I deal in reality....
China has the best record of containment of COVID-19 world wide...
INDY
Posted by: George W Oprisko | Nov 29 2021 23:47 utc | 51
@b,
Many of your readers may wonder what the German word, 'Querdenker' means, me too. I looked it up, and like so many German words there is no appropriate translation or single meaning. It can mean either lateral thinker or dreamer. I imagine you meant the latter?
Posted by: Paul | Nov 30 2021 0:15 utc | 52
Tom_Q_Collins @ 52
I remember vividly the crowdfunding to smuggle the student leaders out of china via Hong Kong, the call for everyone who has a fax machine to war dial and fax tiananmen "truth" into China....
Those leaders are now pork barrel professors spewing gordon chang-esq BS on every presstitites who would call. Same with those who skipped town over the hk colour revolution, they'll become the next crop of professor of bs sino studies and gordon changs smooching with ted cruz.
I'm embarrassed to admit at the time in 89 i really did bought it hook line and sinker, as did pretty much everyone else. Goebbels would've been proud.
Posted by: A.L. | Nov 30 2021 0:17 utc | 53
I really do hope that the Neocon war mongers and their besties the neolibs ( and in the case of the U.K. Labour Party which today further purged Labour and promoted Liberal NuLab Blairites) manage to organise a bunch of proxies to charge at China and Russia. I really really would love to see them succeed in that final suicidal move. Will it lead to a nuclear world war? Of course not even the great fuckwit bankers like Dimon are desperately trying to manoeuvre their ancient Banker Masters to share in Chinese hagemony- seeing as they have failed to destroy it.
These Masters of The Universe and the ancient Forever Slave Owners must be delusional if they think that anything they start will only result their proxies deaths.
The modern war means that every one knows who the big string pullers are Where their castles, estates , bunkers and secret Islands and super yachts are - a few kinetic hypersonic would quickly chop the heads off within half an hour. I doubt proxies ee would be dumb enough to lay down their lives for these Ancients no matter how much suicide money they are offered.
Let’s put the Dominate Empire out of its misery sooner rather than dragging on like the Romans did for decades.
Posted by: D.G. | Nov 30 2021 0:22 utc | 54
Hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by a completely failed policy, which now, after the appearance of the Omikron mutant, will possibly lead to many more deaths - and these screwups condemn the only nation that has reacted consistently and appropriately and thus, given the size of its population, prevented millions more deaths, a fact which even the unsuspicious MSN Swiss Newspaper NZZ more or less explicitly admits - topsy-turvy world. We live in a madhouse.
Posted by: Pnyx | Nov 30 2021 0:25 utc | 55
"... The South China Morning Post reported that, while in jail, Zhang Zhan went on 'intermitted hunger strike' (whatever that may mean) ..."
Intermittent hunger strikes are typical of "dissidents" trained by US and British public and private agencies masquerading as NGOs. Recall that Pussy Riot musicians M Alyokhina and N Tolokonnikova went on hunger strikes ostensibly to protest prison conditions but mainly to call media attention to themselves. Even Alexei Navalny had a go at going on hunger strike despite possibly having a pre-diabetic condition underlying last year's incident in which he collapsed on a passenger jet en route from Tomsk to Moscow and the plane was redirected to Omsk so he could be hospitalised there.
Speaking of Germany, maybe Zhang Zhan should do as DH @ 1 suggests and emulate Navalny in getting a free ticket to Germany with free accommodation, healthcare and recuperation at a holiday resort in the Black Forest region thrown into the package. Of course there is no guarantee that President Xi might personally intervene and allow the Chinese hospital treating Zhang Zhan for, er ... whatever mystery ailment she comes down with to agree to send her away to Germany where the standard of medical care might not meet current Chinese standards. :-)
Posted by: Jen | Nov 30 2021 0:27 utc | 56
They're frantically trying to sabotage the Beijing Olympics. That's all.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Nov 30 2021 0:49 utc | 58
Fake News Falun Gong.
They now Co-Own ZeroHedge with AIPAC Gatestone.
Posted by: IronForge | Nov 30 2021 0:58 utc | 59
@30 David F "You need to brush up on your assertion regarding this. It has been shown multiple times that there is really no distinction between 'with' and 'from'"
Well, I'm certainly seeing some "assertions" being thrown around, but not from me.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Nov 30 2021 1:25 utc | 60
@37 librul quotes some dingbat in Oregon.
The CDC guidelines are not a state secret.
They are freely available, and can be found here:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvss/vsrg/vsrg03-508.pdf
The two most important lines:
"Not all conditions present at the time of death have to be reported — only those conditions that actually contributed to death"
"If COVID–19 played a role in the death, this condition should be specified on the death certificate."
Soooooo, back to your link, and its "hypothetical case where someone died from a motorcycle crash and also had COVID-19. Would that be counted as a COVID-19 death"
According the CDC guidelines the answer is emphatic: No, it would not be counted as a Covid-death.
According to the spokesman from Oregon the answer is "It would be," and "the state follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for reporting deaths"
That spokesman is incorrect that the state is following the CDC guidelines, which proves only that he is an incompetent idiot who works for a state is run by fools.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Nov 30 2021 1:37 utc | 61
Observer @33 Given that much of China is densely populated with a population 4 times that of the US on similar landmass, it's not surprising they have laws against people running around talking shit hoping to get other people riled up. It unusual that someone would land a lengthly prison sentence for spreading falsehoods/rumours, generally a misdemeanor, so she's most likely in other kinds of trouble. NGO $$$ trouble and as a sovereign state the PRC of course has the right to regulate NGO operations within their borders and according to their own legal system.
Morality my ass.
I asked a Hong Kong friend during the riots why HK hadn't kicked out the NGOs ages ago and he said "Wha! They pay good rent!"
Posted by: TDeL | Nov 30 2021 2:02 utc | 62
Is the Epoch Times making any money? It certainly isn't getting ahead 'making news'.
Posted by: Kevin Quinn | Nov 30 2021 2:17 utc | 63
The paradox is that Putin’s team does not want to destroy USA as a legitimate state. This team does not want to destroy even the deep state of USA , which is the one pushing USA into self-destruction.
I agree. And furthermore I suggest that the destruction of the US as a functioning war-dependent state is the goal. Legitimacy and sovereignty are not an issue. That's in Russia's Foreign Policy Manual 101: recognition of legitimacy and sovereignty is the bedrock of peaceful and respectful relations between states. That's why the US et al resists that with all its might: it has no interest in peaceful and respectful relations between states.
The war being fought in these comments is the last war. Destroying, decimating and killing millions of people.
The war the Russians and the Chinese appear to be fighting now is literally, barely in sight. It's electronic, underwater (USS Connecticut) and in space. The intent is to implode the enemy's fundamental fighting capacity by, among other things, but primarily, by collapsing domestic confidence in the enemy's homeland, a la Greer's Twilight's Last Gleaming scenario. A devastating asymmetric response to the enemy's extremely vulnerable and very public attempt to assert hegemony via "soft power," in this case the US working against time to demonstrate that Russia and China are responsible for deadly and unjustified military aggression and thereby pulling the rest of the world behind it (the US) and against Russia and China.
The Great Reset/Build Back Better/Climate Change cabal has fostered a mass psychosis in its realm, but that breakdown shows some signs of wearing thin. Tens of thousands of people are hitting their streets with each ratchet of the authoritarian control wheel. True, in this regard the US population lags that of the EU, but there is evidence underneath the MSM blanket over real events that the US population looks ripe to resist in a much more meaningful way.
An unexpected devastating, calculated asymmetric strike by Russia/China against an obvious US military in a Russia/China theater far from US shores that demonstrates the utter weakness of the US ability to project power could break this barely visible WW3/4 wide open and foment respective domestic US/EU collapse.
I suggest that would be the appropriate war to wage: nearly al the damage would be to the enemy's domestic foundation.
Posted by: p | Nov 30 2021 2:51 utc | 64
@68 and 69
I'm seeing a lot of pontification and much self-congratulatory smugness from you David.
It must be such a pleasant feeling, though I've rarely seen it so... misplaced.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Nov 30 2021 3:25 utc | 65
Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 29 2021 22:11 utc | 36
Nice one for getting a copy. It is a classic of early Christian polemic and presages medieval glee in the suffering of heretics. I'm guessing however that everyone in antiquity was more or less riddled with parasitic worms, but I'm not sure if they're ever fatal (any answers out there?)
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 30 2021 4:20 utc | 66
@ karlof et al.
After the omicron variant comes the xi variant, if we're to follow the Greek alphabet.
Can the anti-china press resist that opportunity for drumming that canard out again?
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 30 2021 4:23 utc | 67
@67, 66 pogohere
may be wrong thread, but still a great comment - although that strike in Greer's book is set in 2028, and also leads to the nuclear brink, so I think that would always be an iffy scenario.
Rostislav Ishchenko has a nice piece on the war that Russia and China are currently fighting, and it's very precisely a delaying strategy:
To see Putin and die
A bit off-topic, my apologies now, but I wanted to catch you here.
Posted by: Grieved | Nov 30 2021 4:32 utc | 68
@ Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 29 2021 23:35 utc | 52
Your source https://www.moonofshanghai.com/2020/04/tiananmen-square-failure-of-american.html: "I live in China and was for many years the editor of a widely-read newsletter that gave me trusted access to about 2,500 middle and high-level corporate executives who were university students in China during the period in question"
Only foreigners publicly expressing positive views on PR China are still allowed to reside there. Not an objective source.,
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 4:51 utc | 69
@ George W Oprisko | Nov 29 2021 23:47 utc | 53
"China has the best record of containment of COVID-19 world wide..."
Maybe, but than they have the combo of solid totalitarianism plus extensive experience with national virus epidemics.
How come they let Covid19 be exported out of Huwan by international flights so easily? Internally they locked up 100%.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 4:58 utc | 70
@ A.L. | Nov 29 2021 21:13 utc | 20... agreed! kick the ngos out! just another front for the cia and intel agencies...
Posted by: james | Nov 30 2021 5:10 utc | 71
when tiananmen square was cleared, a US diplomat/spy who was an eye witness there sent a classified cable to the US embassy reporting that no shooting occurred, stating this unequivocally. this is in the WikiLeaks trove of US state dept cables for those interested enough to search for the document. I've read the document but too lazy to find the link now.
the hundreds of deaths at the time occurred in riots throughout the city , including young soldiers killed by mobs. the most violent mobs were 'peaceful' protestors hailing from hong kong, sponsored by US 'democracy' organizations in the British colony. sound familiar?
Posted by: mastameta | Nov 30 2021 5:15 utc | 72
As karlof1 pointed out @24, Western news media will selectively focus on individuals like this Zhang Zhan, while completely censoring out major news items of interest, such as China providing Africa with another billion doses of vaccine.
I just came across these very short clips on YouTube, coming out of the the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, that our Western establishment news media will never report on to us:
President Xi: China will provide another one billion doses of vaccines to Africa (1 minute 2 seconds)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVn00vTI2pM
President Xi: China will never forget the profound friendship of African countries (55 seconds)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZR4mWqaEk4
President Xi: We need to unequivocally stand for the just propositions of developing countries (1 minute 5 seconds)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfaMASfbvuY
In light of Omicron, Western news media is currently talking about the need for global vaccine equity to prevent the rise of new variants in poorer parts of the world, like India and Africa. And yet the very same media will completely leave out this major news of another billion doses being provided to Africa. The hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance is so blatant.
Nor is the provision of another billion vaccine doses something that Western establishment NGO's like "Amnesty International" and the NED-sponsored "Reporters sans frontières", ostensibly so concerned about equity and human rights, will ever call attention to.
Earlier this year the US announced $300 million USD per year for the next four years for anti-China narratives coordinated through the USAGM, "U.S. Agency for Global Media", so this Orwellianism will likely get worse. (How about putting that $1.2 billion toward trying to stop this pandemic?)
Who knows, perhaps the Mighty Wurlitzer tweet storm campaign was timed to divert attention from the news out of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation?
Posted by: Canadian Cents | Nov 30 2021 5:26 utc | 73
@ mastameta | Nov 30 2021 5:15 utc | 77
Whoever organized those Tienanmen protests, I have never seen any mass street protests in PR China the last 3 decades after them.
No chance for an Establishment rocking "1968 moment" thus.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 5:44 utc | 74
the notion of an 'intermittent hunger strike' is a fine new conception. I shall begin one against the CIA in the morning, first from breakfast to lunch, and then again from lunch to dinner.
Posted by: Mathew | Nov 30 2021 5:50 utc | 75
Stonebird @ 22, Piotr Berman @ 51:
Found this article at New Eastern Outlook: "Washington Unleashes Biological Warfare in Syria" by Vladimir Danilov
"... SANA has previously repeatedly reported to the world about military trucks carrying wheat moving from Syria to Iraq through the Semalka border crossing on the Iraqi–Syrian border. Special attention was drawn to the fact that the US troops have taken such actions for a long time against the background of a large-scale food crisis caused by the war in the Syrian Arab Republic. As for the guilt of the United States for the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, SANA provided comprehensive information about the extraction by the US military from the occupied Syrian territory in early 2021 of 38 trucks with stolen Syrian wheat, and then another 18 trucks of grain stolen from grain elevators to neighboring Iraq.Meanwhile, as SANA reported on November 23, the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform detected dangerous parasites in the wheat seeds supplied by the US as part of “humanitarian aid” through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID, an organization banned in Russia). Syrian authorities examined samples of those Turkish wheat seeds delivered by USAID to farms near the town of Qamishli under the control of the United States and its allies, after which a Syrian official, Saeed Hajji said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform in Hasakah Province sent samples of wheat seeds provided by USAID to the laboratories of the Ministry of Agriculture, which found that they were not suitable for cultivation. The seeds contain a large number of parasite worm nematodes, which reached 40%. It poses a significant danger to agriculture in the region, mainly because its effects cause a lot of damage that worsens over time. The official warned farmers not to plant but destroy these seeds, whose destructive effects have been evident over the years. The Al-Hasakah Farmers Union had earlier urged farmers not to grow these seeds as they are unsuitable for agriculture and cause agricultural pests ...
... Former US intelligence official Edward Snowden has previously said in a video message that the US has long been poisoning citizens of opposing countries with biological weapons. In particular, he pointed out that more than 80% of products, goods, fertilizers, and medicines imported from the US to Russia, for example, pose a danger to the population. According to Snowden, all products that come from the US contain a time bomb – a special kind of parasite: “There has long been large-scale research in America into the devastating effects of parasites on the human body. Subjects are infected with specially bred forms of helminths. Detecting their presence in the body is almost impossible. This is the most dangerous biomaterial, the primary purpose of which is literally to devour and destroy people from the inside!"..."
Helminths are large parasitic worms that spend part of their life cycles in the human gut or in blood vessels. They can live in soil but I cannot find anything online that suggests their life cycles include living off grain. I should imagine they need moisture through their entire life cycles and being stuck in sacks of grain that might not be used for a long time might dry them out and kill them (if not their eggs).
The article I linked to appears to have been translated into English from Russian and there might be a mistranslation or some confusion about the nature of the worms somewhere.
BTW African army worms have been a major agricultural pest in China in past years. It is possible they may have been transported there by the US secretly. Perhaps these are the worms that have been found in sacks of wheat by Syrian authorities?
Posted by: Jen | Nov 30 2021 5:51 utc | 76
wORLD record holder for longest hunger strike goes to Irom Sharmila, known as the iron lady of Manipur.
She witnessed Indian army's atrocities on civilians at first hand, which triggered her protest.
She was locked up in hospital and forced fed by the govn.
Delhi eventually release her fearing
international backlash.
They should worry ?
Not a peep from the FUKUS led 'international community' in
all of 16 years.
Dont feel bad if u never heard of her,
u'r in good companies.
Posted by: denk | Nov 30 2021 6:09 utc | 77
Grieved | Nov 30 2021 4:32 utc | 68
Thanks. And thanks for the heads up on the Ischenko article.
Give some thought to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor when it knew it couldn't win a war with the US. There may be a mistake just barely off stage but in the making that alters the global order.
Posted by: pogohere | Nov 30 2021 6:21 utc | 78
@ denk | Nov 30 2021 6:09 utc | 77
She began a new hunger strike on November 2000, 2 years ago. She is still alive and can easily be found on Internet: try that for any individual Uyghur, Tibetan or Han protesters....
North East India was culturally invaded by Christian missionaries, Marxists and Muslims; funnily India is their best chance to preserve most of their original cultures.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 6:30 utc | 79
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 4:51 utc | 69
DGAF - The Tiananmen Square "Massacre" was a hoax how it was presented to Western audiences and still is. Do you have anything specific to call out as wrong in that article? If so that would be more helpful than vague whining.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 30 2021 6:35 utc | 80
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 5:44 utc | 74
You need to do some more reading. The main reason for the '89 protests was massive corruption in the government that **NO LONGER EXISTS***.
There haven't been many Han street protests because the direction the CCP has taken is drastically rooting out corruption. The only Uighurs that are 'persecuted' or 're-educated' are put in that position for the types of terroristic activity (fomented by the US/CIA/Etc.) that would get "activists" in the USA jailed or killed or maimed.
I mean, did you actually READ any of the articles I posted including Mike Gravel's?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 30 2021 6:38 utc | 81
What happened to this thread? I'm seeing a lot of references/replies to numbered comments that are not there and the offset is pretty drastic. Could anyone tell me what has been deleted?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 30 2021 6:40 utc | 82
Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 30 2021 6:35 utc | 80
Is noticing the total lack of mass street protests in PR China for the last 3 decades whining?
J Edgar Hoover, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Obama & Macron would be proud of you.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 6:44 utc | 83
Antonym @ various
The mental contortion you go through to frame anything to do with China via your modi-branded blinkers is truly astonishing. A marvel.
I must also commend you on your unwavering consistency. Here, have a cookie.
But you sir, are a moron.
Posted by: A.L. | Nov 30 2021 7:00 utc | 84
@ A.L. The easiest reply:
"The mental contortion you go through to praise anything to do with China via your xi-branded blinkers is truly astonishing. A marvel."
The Washington/NY are rotten atleast since JFK yes, but present Beijing is NOT Nirvana either.
(unless you are a 100% materialist and define it by everyone being able to buy an Apple phone and driving Volkswagen).
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 7:12 utc | 85
79
The iron lady of Manipur was protesting on real atrocities...
Ofcourse, the historic fast launched at Malom was no planned affair. There was a firing by security forces at Malom bus stand, which is nearly 15-16 kilometers from Imphal, on 2 nd November 2000. It saw blood of ten innocents spilled on the streets. Ofcourse it was not the first event of its kind, the streets of Manipur had been witness to the killings of innocent citizens umpteen times before.[1]
aton the troll
'what about Uighurs, Tibet...'
Caitlin JOhnstones
'I reserve a special kind of disdain for those who still parrots western
narrative on China .'
PS
My post wasnt directed at you,
YOur reputation as a shameless Indian troll needs no introduction here.
I've long banished you into my bozo file.
Too many liars, too little time,
[1]
https://www.countercurrents.org/hr-gatade171006.htm
Posted by: denk | Nov 30 2021 7:23 utc | 86
I think many here are doing Antonym a disservice in calling him/her a moron etc.
An actual moron would find this site rapidly moving beyond his ability to keep up.
What Antonym is is really rather simple and self explanatory. His name literally means "opposite".
He is an actual internet troll, placing views that are opposite of rational thought to stir the pot. He gets his kicks from the combative intercourse that he foments.
Even any actually thoughtful comments are only there to draw the conversation to the antagonist point of view.
Whilst his kind are actually a blight on the entire planet, one has to remember that this is the only way such a person can feel OK about themselves.
They gain a feeling of power in being able to twist thoughts in others heads even if it is only to occupy them for a short while.
This is exactly the same way that modern media propaganda works. They only need you to pay attention for a short while and build it up in small doses to twist a falsehood into a believable reality.
Even if the thought is absolutely bonkers, repeated small doses have shown to be able to break through to less thoughtful minds. This is exactly what happened in the flat earth construct from recent history.
Whether Antonym works for a Media corporation or is just self indulgent is irrelevant.
On this site however, I suggest that his antics are rather pointless towards regulars. His goals might be aimed at random pass through visitors to this site.
It is important however to point out that this is INTENTIONAL so that random passers through do not fall for his trap.
Posted by: JustAnotherAussie | Nov 30 2021 7:40 utc | 87
Lots of Ad Hominem, little arguments. Guys, YOU are dragging this blog down.
Unless this is PR China=Nirvana off-course.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 7:47 utc | 88
I do honestly want someone to try and explain to me precisely what the word "infodemic" means.
From what I can see, the word consists of "inform"--which has meant, for the last 600 years, "to train or instruct in some specific subject"--and "demic", which means "the local population."
By no means am I arguing that Zhang Zhan is, was, or might have been a journalist "exposing" China's "failures" in the Covid fight. She sounds an awful lot like the Covid skeptics one can so easily find in the west--they are quite avid in airing their observations, and none of them have been put in prison for it, yet--so far as I have heard. China, as much as I respect its achievements, does have a few "laws" I consider unacceptable, and beyond the pale.
But it's their country, not mine.
My focus is on that utterly contrived word, "infodemic": made up to sound so official and sciency-formal, and yet it's utter jabberwocky. It's a false and pretentious quip by an immature and thoroughly stupid mind.
I wouldn't be surprised if it gets wide promotion by the corporate PTB.
Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Nov 30 2021 7:51 utc | 89
re Antonym note that he hails from India and has been consistently anti China I postulate he's a paid operative in one of their state propaganda channels. India has the world's 3rd most aggressive propaganda apparatus after US and Israel.
So shitting on China is a must to him, just as breathing is to the rest of us.
Posted by: Surferket | Nov 30 2021 8:03 utc | 90
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 30 2021 6:40 utc | 82
Hey Tom: b is no doubt deleting off-topic rants, but, to play devil's avocado for just a moment, the 'topic' admits of many sub-topics from covid to EU politics. So it is in the lap of b.
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 30 2021 8:09 utc | 91
@ Surferket | Nov 30 2021 8:03 utc | 90
"India has the world's 3rd most aggressive propaganda apparatus after US and Israel."
Then why am I the only one giving some Indian perspectives here? Must be the pay - zilch.
If you just want you cosy echo chamber with familiar buddies and viewpoints just say so and I will leave you to it....
unless you start lying about India.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 8:13 utc | 92
I used to come here for impartial info, but you've become a full-on China shill, celebrating the imprisonment of "non-believers" and critics of the state.
Who cares if she's a "true" journalist or not - neither are you.
Posted by: Former Reader | Nov 30 2021 8:17 utc | 93
For readers who are interested, the fake news that China allowed flights out of Wuhan - enabling the wildfire rush of the virus to the world - the claim has been debunked by a writer Robert Farley on factcheck.org (May 5,2020).
The false assertion was originally made by Niall Ferguson in an article for The Times of London.
However, Ferguson was challenged by Daniel Bell of Tsinghua. (He has a blog).
The Canadian professor provided exacting details of data to back up the FACT that international flights did not take off from Wuhan after the city was locked down.
Ferguson was reluctant to concede the point, but grudgingly did, after much to-fro.
However, Donald Trump continued to flog the dead horse, since it suited his China-bashing agenda.
It also looks like some poster here is also trying to whip some life out of that old corpse, lol!
Posted by: LittleWhiteCabbage | Nov 30 2021 8:18 utc | 94
Re various craps about China data on COVID are BS.
Unless you lived in China during the outbreak of the #USVirus you don't get the right to call China's effort as bullshit.
I live in China, went through 7 weeks of lockdown back in beginning of 2020. Most of us have been maskless since April 2020 except for limited outbreaks in nearby cities that are cleared up with 2 weeks.
My wife is a state nurse so I do know the ground level, and it's not a state secret that COVID-19 in Wuhan is a US biological attack. Right from the very beginning.
So no, people didn't drop dead by the millions, and crematoriums didn't covered the whole of China with the smoke of burning these bodies.
The other well known anti lockdown personality is Fangfang the screaming bitch who actually lives in Wuhan and got famous sprouting her "diary" from the tiny tiny world of her lockdown apartment. She claims to know everything in the whole China from reading Chinese social media! Well she wasn't the only Chinese lockdown in Wuhan. 8 million others so her rants were easily rebutted. She's still spewing her bullshit freely, not in jail. The west published her "diary" in an effort to get Beijing to arrest her and make her famous.
Nope. She didn't do anything serious to warrant being arrested. So the west went back to flogging this China Zenck.
Posted by: Surferket | Nov 30 2021 8:22 utc | 95
Re Antonym
Not much need to lie about India.
The west tells good stories about India.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55232432
Posted by: Surferket | Nov 30 2021 8:28 utc | 96
@LittleWhiteCabbage #94
You mean this.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/05/trumps-flawed-china-travel-conspiracy/
Posted by: Surferket | Nov 30 2021 8:33 utc | 97
@ LittleWhiteCabbage | Nov 30 2021 8:18 utc | 94
"the fake news that China allowed flights out of Wuhan - enabling the wildfire rush of the virus to the world - the claim has been debunked"
China allowed international flights outwards from various airports, which is simply proved by the number of flights landing abroad from China then.
Or do you believe horseshoe bats flew from China to Northern Italy or New York and were quickly eaten by eager pensioners?
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 8:36 utc | 98
@ LittleWhiteCabbage
If it is any consolation to you I blame Fauci & Daszak equally with Shi Zhengli for playing with bio-fire, quite close to a mega city on top of it. Those in Wuhan were the first victims.
Pharma for profit more than bio weapon.
BUT Obama and Trump forbade this madness on US soil while Xi didn't.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 30 2021 8:46 utc | 99
Re Antonym
You are angry about anyone talking about India, but you have no problem making shitty attacks on China.#HypocrisyMuch
"The assumption that COVID-19 originated in China is just that, an assumption and nothing more. There is no hard evidence to justify that claim as this study illustrates. It is clear that the Wuhan wet market had nothing to do with the origin or spread of the disease and that it had spread in Europe long before the lockdown in Wuhan. The often repeated slander that China allowed the coronavirus to spread internationally when Wuhan was locked down on Jan. 23, 2020 is completely without any foundation. It was already spreading in Europe, the US and Brazil long before then.
"We describe the earliest evidence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a patient in Italy, ≈3 months before Italy’s first reported COVID-19 case. These findings, in agreement with other evidence of early COVID-19 spread in Europe, advance the beginning of the outbreak to late autumn 2019 (6,8–10). However, earlier strains also might have been occasionally imported to Italy and other countries in Europe during this period, manifesting with sporadic cases or small self-limiting clusters. These importations could have been different from the strain that became widespread in Italy during the first months of 2020. Unfortunately, the swab specimen, which was collected for measles diagnosis, was not optimal for SARS-CoV-2 detection because it was an oropharyngeal rather than a nasopharyngeal swab specimen and it was collected 14 days after the onset of symptoms, when viral shedding is reduced. In addition, thawing might have partially degraded the RNA, preventing the sequencing of longer genomic regions that could have been helpful in determining the origin of the strain.
"This finding is of epidemiologic importance because it expands our knowledge on timing and mapping of the SARS-CoV-2 transmission pathways. Long-term, unrecognized spread of SARS-CoV-2 in northern Italy would help explain, at least in part, the devastating impact and rapid course of the first wave of COVID-19 in Lombardy. Full exploitation of existing virologic surveillance systems to promptly identify emerging pathogens is therefore a priority to more precisely clarify the course of outbreaks in a population. Further studies aimed at detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in archived samples suitable for whole-genome sequencing will be crucial at determining exactly the timeline of the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy and will be helpful for the preparedness against future epidemics."
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/2/20-4632_article
Posted by: Surferket | Nov 30 2021 8:50 utc | 100
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That young lady will get a one-way ticket to Germany if she's not careful. Of course that may be what she wants.
Posted by: dh | Nov 29 2021 19:09 utc | 1