This isn't a "bombshell" in the sense that it delivers stunning or shocking information. We already knew that China's government has been lying to the world for months about the Wuhan coronavirus, with their active cover-up alive and well -- very much unlike an unknown number of their citizens. Nevertheless, yesterday's Associated Press scoop, featuring information gleaned from leaked internal documents, is damning and remarkable for the timeline it exposes:
Bombshell from @AP: internal Chinese documents show central govt held teleconference on Jan 14 with instructions from Xi on epidemic & acknowledged likely H2H transmission.
— Gerry Shih (@gerryshih) April 15, 2020
China CDC and WHO publicly said that day "no clear evidence" of transmission. https://t.co/epU4m33SRo
In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations. President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data...the six-day delay by China’s leaders in Beijing came on top of almost two weeks during which the national Center for Disease Control did not register any cases from local officials, internal bulletins obtained by the AP confirm. Yet during that time, from Jan. 5 to Jan. 17, hundreds of patients were appearing in hospitals not just in Wuhan but across the country...what is clear, experts say, is that China’s rigid controls on information, bureaucratic hurdles and a reluctance to send bad news up the chain of command muffled early warnings.
Further details on the tick tock demonstrate that Chinese officials understood the reality about human-to-human transmission far sooner than they let on:
The documents show that the head of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, laid out a grim assessment of the situation on Jan. 14 in a confidential teleconference with provincial health officials. A memo states that the teleconference was held to convey instructions on the coronavirus from President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, but does not specify what those instructions were...Under a section titled “sober understanding of the situation,” the memo said that “clustered cases suggest that human-to-human transmission is possible.” It singled out the case in Thailand, saying that the situation had “changed significantly” because of the possible spread of the virus abroad. “With the coming of the Spring Festival, many people will be traveling, and the risk of transmission and spread is high,” the memo continued. “All localities must prepare for and respond to a pandemic.” In the memo, Ma demanded officials unite around Xi and made clear that political considerations and social stability were key priorities during the long lead-up to China’s two biggest political meetings of the year in March. While the documents do not spell out why Chinese leaders waited six days to make their concerns public, the meetings may be one reason.
January 14 is a significant date because it coincides with the World Health Organization's infamous tweet repeating China's bogus assurances to the global community about human-to-human spread. Beijing knew this was false, yet their lapdogs at WHO were spoon-fed false information that harmed and delayed the world's collective response to the outbreak (despite warnings to the contrary):
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China????. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020
Even after it became undeniably clear that China had lied and suppressed information, WHO's leader continued to lavish praise on the communist regime, which had been instrumental in his ascension to the influential position (perhaps Beijing saw Tedros' alleged cover-up of a cholera outbreak in Africa as a feature, not a bug, of his candidacy). Beyond that, top WHO officials have also notably antagonized Taiwan, further doing China's political bidding. The Associated Press obtained the documents from a whistleblower who understandably requested anonymity, then confirmed their authenticity with others. If these sources are ever revealed, it's likely that they'd be "disappeared," along with other truth-tellers and critics of the regime on this front. Enforced censorship is a theme of the AP piece:
The punishment of eight doctors for “rumor-mongering,” broadcast on national television on Jan. 2, sent a chill through the city’s hospitals. “Doctors in Wuhan were afraid,” said Dali Yang, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Chicago. “It was truly intimidation of an entire profession.”
And now the bully regime that throws minorities into internment camps, violently suppresses liberties, enforces mandatory abortions, harvests organs from political prisoners, and continues to lie about the deadly pandemic it uniquely and outrageous enabled is scolding the Trump administration for its tough but correct decision to withhold funding from the failed and compromised WHO, pending an investigation:
NEW: China urges the U.S. not to halt its funding to the World Health Organization, saying it would undermine the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/T3P78xmT5x pic.twitter.com/MwbvYuunQO
— ABC News (@ABC) April 15, 2020
The United States has been the top contributor nation to the World Health Organization for years, by a long shot. If China is so upset about what's happening here, allow me to strongly endorse this sentiment: "Let China pay for its own mouthpiece."
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