Hidden Harmonies China Blog

As calls for “defunding” the Police in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death mounts across America – land of the free, it is interesting to compare how police treats its citizens in the U.S. vs China – often depicted as a “police state” in the West.

Police brutality is nothing new in the U.S. or the West (for example, see this, or this, or this, or this). What about China?

Many people in the West – apparently led on by the U.S. government – believe that the Chinese had covered up information regarding initial extent of the epidemic in China. Some had asserted that the death toll in China was actually magnitudes higher. When that could not be proven, some are taken to the notion that China kept data regarding human-to-human transmission from the world. The supposed evidence? An email Taiwanese authorities sent to the WHO on December 31.

This email has often been presented to constitute evidence that Taiwan had learned of and warned the WHO of human-to-human transmission in Wuhan, but that the WHO ignored. Turns out, the email did not make any such assertion. No one has been able to present an email from Taiwan to the WHO reporting any information about human-to-human transmission.

[This article was first published on Asia Times]

Despite his Administration’s many failures in responding to the Covid-19 crisis, Trump is rebranding himself as the tough, indispensable leader America needs.  At the center of Trump’s new pitch: his “travel ban” against China back in February.  According to Trump, but for his “early” and “decisive” actions, “thousands and thousands of lives” would have been lost.

“Everybody was against it.  Almost everybody, I would say, was just absolutely against it. … I made a decision to close off to China that was weeks early. … And I must say, doctors — nobody wanted to make that decision at the time.” 

Trump’s “travel ban” however was more taking a swipe at China than keeping America safe. 

Recently I have been reading so much junk and misinformation about China that’s it’s unbeleivable. Of course, there will always be bottom feeders such as this from a David Cole on TakiMag. But there are some more reputable ones too, such as those from Niall Ferguson about China deliberately spreading the virus to the world…

Anyways, recent allegations from Ferguson were sufficiently disturbing that Prof. Daniel Bell took the time to look at the evidence provided. Shockingly he found that even the allegations from Ferguson are based on either misunderstanding or deliberate misinformation. Rather than put word into the Professor’s mouth, I’ll copy his response (copied from his website) below.

Following is a recent piece from George Koo about the Sad State of American Anti-China Fever – from a Chinese American’s Perspective. It was published on Asia Times.

I completely empathize and echo George’s sentiment. America in my opinion has degenerated to a shadow of its former self – much in the last 20 years. It’s not the economy or gdp per se. America is still doing well there. It’s its psyche. It has conjured falsehood out of thin area against invisible enemies. It has fought pointless wars after pointless wars. The election of President Trump and the degeneration of President Trump from Candidate to President are all emblematic of America’s decline. It is a nation that no longer cares about truth … From the President down to the senators to many in the press, stories are presented in biased, unbalanced ways. There is little goodwill toward each other … or the world. It’s all about winning and success … devoid of humanity.

Without much adieu, please read George’s article.

[Important Editor Note: I have since communicated with the authors of the article and other experts in the field and now retract this post in the sense that there are major problems with the methodology of this study. First the bat virus chosen to anchor the tree is too far away to serve as an anchor. You can get whatever tree you want! Second, there are major issues associated with forcing a most parsimonious tree in a set of data with a lot of missing data – perhaps systematically biased missing data. The data set is mostly from China, and even there only a subset. Whatever tree built is a best tree for the data, and may be completely off from reality. The study is still interesting in that it is not assuming a place of origin; it is trying to figure out a place of origin. But the study – at least in its current form – has failed. If I get time, I will write a follow-up post on this study explaining in more detail. Thanks.]

I have been reading this article in the PNAS titled Phylogenetic network analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes by Peter Forster, Lucy Forster, Colin Renfrew, and Michael Forster. The study involves a study of the genomes of 160 covid-19 patients from the around the world. As readers may know, viruses are RNA-based entities that periodically and regularly undergo mutations. One can study these mutations and almost like clockwork trace their evolution – i.e. their lineage and migration pattern.

The authors specifically employed a methodology known as “character-based phylogenetic networks”. The technique has been used as the “method of choice” to reconstruct prehistoric human population movements, language evolution, various ecological studies, and some 10,000 phylogenetic studies of diverse organisms – and now virology.

I have posted references that explain the U.S. attempt to smear China in light of its own catastrophic handling of the coronavirus crisis. Turns out Taiwan is an integral part of that. Interesting article I read first on Guancha. I will translate a part … and refer to the CNBC report that it refers to as well … and conclude with some brief thoughts.

Despite Trump having said he will stop using the term “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus” a few days ago, ¹ the U.S. is still actively pushing the world to buy the idea that China covered up its coronavirus outbreak, a cover up which directly lead the world to suffer a pandemic.

The G7 just failed to issue a joint statement because the U.S. kept pushing for a statement about a “Wuhan virus” that the others felt was unnecessarily antagonistic.

Recently, I found an article that goes over the U.S.’s full spectrum efforts to smear China in the face of its cataclysmic failures at home. Please refer to the following for a good overview how the US wants to pin China for covering up the Coronavirus Crisis:

[This article is cross-posted on TheSaker and GlobalResearch]

Despite strong rebukes from the WHO, President Trump and his Administration officials in recent days have made an emphatic point of calling the COVID-19 virus the “Chinese Virus” or “China Virus.”  When pushed on the racist overtone of his rhetoric, Trump retorted, “Cause [the virus] comes from China. It’s not racist at all, no, not at all. It comes from China, that’s why. I want to be accurate.”

Sadly, most Americans, even if uncomfortable, appear to agree on the facts, if not the tenor, of Trump’s choice of words. ¹

Here are some facts about the COVID-19 virus that will helpfully set the American public straight. 

[This article was originally published on Globalresearch.ca.]

Japan, China and Taiwan Reports on the Origin of the Virus

The Western media quickly took the stage and laid out the official narrative for the outbreak of the new coronavirus which appeared to have begun in China, claiming it to have originated with animals at a wet market in Wuhan.

In fact the origin was for a long time unknown but it appears likely now, according to Chinese and Japanese reports, that the virus originated elsewhere, from multiple locations, but began to spread widely only after being introduced to the market.

More to the point, it appears that the virus did not originate in China and, according to reports in Japanese and other media, may have originated in the US.

Nathan Rich has been putting out many incredible commentaries on China on Youtube for the last few years. And this most recent one on Dr. Li’s death certainly ranks among the best commentaries I have seen in English (or Chinese even) on Dr. Li’s death in Wuhan.

Dr. Li was one of the earliest doctors to notice a SARs like virus going around in Wuhan and had “tweeted” about it on his Weibo account. Local government officials would sanction him about it – asking him to sign some papers admitting what he did was wrong and not to do it again. Later when a concurrent government investigation revealed that a new virus was truly going around, the government retracted his sanctions. Dr. Li would go on to work on the front lines … but later – just a few days ago – die from the virus.

Some people have gone anti-government over this. In the Youtube commentary, Nathan Rich noted that he can understand how people thought Dr. Li was a “hero” and that the government has erred, however he also noted that the most critical thing now is to save lives and go forward, and not distract from the government’s valiant efforts. He posited for those who are angry: even had people listen to Dr. Li’s original (then unsubstantiated) claims, would we really be better off?

Yes, more people might have more masks in the initial days and more might have been more diligent about washing hands, etc. But almost certainly, judging by people’s behavior since the Wuhan quarantine, people would have fled Wuhan and tried to cover up the fact that they might be virus carriers. So, while, on a personal level, leaving town would have been the “human” thing to do, it most certainly would been the worst thing to do in terms of saving lives and reducing the spread of the virus.

Would we be better off today had people listened to Dr. Li (and others’) initial warnings … or much worse off?

[A redacted and edited version of this article was published in the China Daily]

Nowhere is man freer than on the field of battle, where it is a matter of life and death, wrote Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace. One way of determining people’s morality is by observing their reactions during a crisis.

Western audiences have offered three types of reactions to the recent virus outbreak in China: Sympathy, Sinophobia, and Schadenfreude. Sane westerners, one hopes, empathized with the victims, wishing the outbreak ends soon. Racists took advantage of it to indulge in stereotypes and memes. The third category, the western media, was delighted with the opportunity to insult the Chinese government.

When Trump ran for the Presidency, I openly supported him. I did not support him because of politics per se. I actually disagreed with most of his policies. However, I did agree with him that the U.S. needs to put Americans first, start dismantling the U.S. Empire, and do what is best for the American people.

I knew that Trump might end up doing many foolhardy things. I am dismayed but actually not surprised about Trump’s trade and subsequent technology war on China. But I still firmly believed that in the end, Trump will do the right thing. An America that puts “America First” will ultimately be good for America … and the world alike.

However, I will not lie, through the last few years, I have been steadily disappointed. I’ve been disappointed with Trump’s lack of resolve on his core promises, and lack of foresight and leadership when it comes to major policies such as engaging China.

Financial Times recently published an article on how the Chinese government is trying to plan its economy to better adjust to an aging population that is expected to peak in 2050 with around 35% of population over 60. According to the article, this is a culmination of a series of policies actually started at the same time as when the one-child policy was enacted.

Compared to other Western articles that tend to demonize China’s one-child policy, the FT article offers an interesting read of China’s policy of population control. According to Chinese government estimates, today’s population would be 250-300 million larger were it not for its one-child policy.

I usually cringe when I hear people categorically attacking China’s population control policies. While the one-child policy is well known throughout the world, China actually has had enacted other policies in its history, including its “late, long, few” initiative which promoted people to have children later in life and to lengthen the times between pregnancies.

Since the mid 1960’s, China’s birthrate has consistently dropped. Is it a coincidence that since the mid 1960’s, China’s economic growth has also consistently grown?

Before the “Fake News” became “popular,” we were here. This blog was started to counter anti-China fake news created and spread by Western establishments in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics. We were created during the days of ANTI-CNN – now defunct …. and part of April Media according to Wikipedia.

In light of the previous posts by Charles Liu and Rolf, I thought I would revisit our roots again … by republishing a 2017 article by a Chinese journalist who had worked for a Dutch newspaper … and quit. The article described firsthand how ugly “fake news” was made.

It is saddening and enraging to read this article because we know things haven’t changed since 2017. If anything, things have gotten even worse. Also, we know that Fake News matter. It had lead to death and riots in Lhasa in 2008, and has led to more death and riots in Hong Kong in 2019.

Without much adieu, below is the article by Zhang Chaoqun.

Note: This is an update of a previous post, which can be found here.

Over this past Summer and Fall, I watched with heightened interest (and much dismay and sadness) the violence that has besieged Hong Kong. Instead of arguing and shouting (there is too much of that already on the streets), I aim to bring you some facts and context about the situation … as reported by news organizations around the world. There is way much disinformation about the Hong Kong riots. I hope the links below will provide you some insights and sanity.

The Sydney Morning Herald published an Editorial Titled “Rare bipartisan consensus on right to privacy” today. It reads in part:

Wrote this piece for the SCMP. Some minor differences between version below and at SCMP because of space imitation and other minor editorial issues…

On China’s Indignant Response to Morey’s Tweet and Apple’s release of HKmap.live.

Over the last week or so, there has been a strong reaction in China against Apple for releasing an App called HKmap.live as well as NBA’s apparent official support for the “protesters.” From SCMP:

Chinese state media on Tuesday accused Apple Inc of protecting “rioters” in Hong Kong and enabling illegal behaviour, after the US-based technology giant listed on its app store an application that tracks police activity in the city.

Apple had previously rejected the app, called HKmap.live, but reversed its decision on Friday and made the programme available for download from the iOS App Store on Saturday, according to the program’s developer.

…

The app relies on crowdsourced information to track the location of police presence in the city, alerting users to police vehicles, armed officers and incidents in which people have been injured. The app — a website version is also active — displays hotspots on a map of the city that is continuously updated as users report incidents.

“By allowing its platform to clear the way for an app that incites illegal behaviour, [does Apple] not worry about damaging its reputation and hurting the feelings of consumers?” said a bellicose commentary published on the app of People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece.

…

Such outcry echoed the recent vitriol against the NBA and, in particular, the Houston Rockets. Daryl Morey, general manager of the Rockets, tweeted an image that read “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” – a slogan frequently used by the protesters – on Saturday before quickly deleting it.

The post drew outrage from the Chinese public, government officials and Chinese business partners of the league, and prompted the Chinese Basketball Association to suspend ties with the Rockets.

As the NBA scrambled to distance itself from Morey’s post, the league came under fire at home, with scores of US lawmakers accusing the association of sacrificing principle for profit. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has since sought to assuage such concerns, saying at a Tuesday news conference in Tokyo that the league supported Morey’s right to freedom of speech.

So here we go again, Americans waiving the flag of “freedom” to dismiss Chinese national (security, social cohesion, and otherwise) concerns.

Would Apple or Google release apps or other platforms that are used to evade police and to conspire violence? Would Apple or Google release an App to help violent rioters such as certain “white supremacists” or “antifa” people commit crimes against fellow citizens and police?

We know Twitter, Facebook, Google and everyone else remove posts and apps that “violate” their terms of policy, including platforms that promote “hate speech,” “untrustworthy” information, “promotion” or “incitement” of “violence,” etc. Would they ever openly justify aiding and abetting violence in the U.S. or its allies? No way! But I guess when it comes to China, social and national concerns can have no legitimate place, only shrill calls for “freedom”…

I have read in in so many places how putting Huawei on the Entity List on “national security grounds” makes no sense. I ran into this article on Asia Times by David Goldman – a U.S. patriot / stooge – that finally and honestly explains the real reason.

For those with a head: the danger posed by Huawei 5G has never been of China snooping others, but of the king of snoop – the U.S. and the five eyes – loosing its ability to snoop around the world. Yet the U.S. has the gall to declare to the world: please stop buying Huawei 5G because you don’t want to be snooped. Buy our stuffs … err.. when they are ready … so you are safe from being snooped…

So its nice to see a U.S. patriot admit the true in splendid detail – while also acknowledging that Chinese have – finally(!) – invented something new…

The central theme of Trump’s president is “America First.” Most Americans understand that to mean putting American interests, American prosperity, American well being first above all else.

As an American, I personally have no quarrel with this. In fact, as a world citizen, I think if every nation can look primarily after itself and not after other nations (which in basically every case have proven to be a false flag for carrying out illicit interventions because “there is never free lunch” as they say), the world will be a much, much better place.

But over the last few years, it is turning out that this talk about “America First” is nothing else than another false flag. America is as involved in war and warmongering throughout the world as ever, and with the current irrational trade war, it looks like the Trump administration is also about putting its special interests constituencies first … screw all others … just like all the other previous administrations.

It is an open secret that historically America has been an oligarchy, not a democracy. That means it is not a government of the people for the people … but rather a government of special interests for the special interests … no different than many other governments around the world and throughout time.

But things are about to change. At least that was the promise.

In his inauguration speech, with outgoing president Obama visibly grimacing, Trump portrayed himself as a messiah coming to America’s rescue:

[This piece was initially published on global research.]

Trump started his trade war with China over a year ago.  After a year of escalations, two high-profile G20 meetings and months of on-off-on again negotiations, the trade war has the world tittering on the edge of a global recession.

In the run-up to last month’s G20 meeting, Trump had boasted that “it’s me right now that’s holding up” a deal with China.  Rejecting Beijing’s pleas for a “balanced” deal, Trump’s top trade advisor Lighthizer declared that any deal must involve China making up for its’ “past transgressions.” ¹

The notion that the U.S. has long been the victim of unfair trade practices, especially at the hand of China, thus is no longer just election rhetoric, but the raison d’être of America’s trade war. 

In 2017 the American government funded 48 anti-China groups and organizations through its «National Endowment for Democracy» (NED), – in order oppose and harm China and to create social and ethnic tensions and conflicts inside China.

Recently NED has been focusing on Xinjiang, and as a consequence there has been negative reports about the situation there in many Western newspapers and on global TV.

Here are some examples showing how NED is working and using its contacts, to harm China: Read more…

Everywhere on the news, we hear about how the late Senator John McCain is a hero and a patriot, someone who rises above partisan bickering, an independent thinker, a maverick – someone who put country above politics.  The embodiment of “decency” from a “bygone” era…

It is truly amazing how I hear this from across the political spectrum, Republics, Democrats … and from CNN, New York Times, Time, and Fox News and all major media sources.

Even President Trump – who was no “friend” of McCain and initially did not proffer any perfuse eulogy – would be forced to offer one and to lower the White House flag.  Read more…

Can anyone find the original source? I can not (only reports from US panelist saying there are “credible reports” based on propaganda paid for by US government via NED, not actual investigation or verification by UN):

UPDATE: NYT has quietly pulled the article. Here’s more details about this hit job from Ben Norton from Grey Zone:

https://grayzoneproject.com/2018/08/23/un-did-not-report-china-internment-camps-uighur-muslims/amp/

And here’s Reuters cited by NYT

Who is CHRD

And TWO MILLION? Xinjiang’s entire population is about 20 million of all ethnicity – how do you keep “secret camps” that jails 1 in 10 people, including Han children, secret? Even if the detention is exclusively Uighurs, that means 25% of the 8 million Uighurs in the region are secretly detained – again how do you keep detention of ONE QUARTER of a population, secret? Not to mention the worst case arrest numbers from UK government propaganda outlet, citing US government funded propaganda, below, is so very different?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16860974

I’m calling BS on this.

Obviously most will associate this question with Hillary Clinton’s book of the election of 2016 in U.S., but it can also applied to what Ken Burns and Lynn Novick asked about Vietnam War in their mesmerizing documentary, and hopefully we will not be asking the question in the future upon a devastated Korea peninsula with irradiated North.
Hillary Clinton pleaded mia culpa and took some responsibility for her failure, but she also blamed FBI director Comey, misogyny, Sander supporters, Russian Hacking, and of course the archaic electoral system, since she did get close to 3 million more votes than Trump. There were various detailed studies on the voting pattern since the election. She not only lost the white votes, she lost the white women votes. She got less black votes than Obama did in the 3 key states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which more than covered her deficit of 70,000 votes in all three, not to mention the Green Party votes. She even lost the millennial votes. So now we have a chaos president whom the Secretary of State called a f___ing moron, with Iran nuclear deal all but decertified, Paris Climate Accord withdrawal, Korea in danger of incinerated, or as Trump said, we are in the calm before the storm. I just hope the bureaucracy can stall Trump long enough to prevent a nuclear holocaust before Mueller finishes his investigation.
Yet to an observer like myself, the elephant in the room which she avoids touching is liberal’s bible, the U.S. Constitution. This document which supposed to be shining city on the hill, with constant propaganda unquestioned by all, supposedly emulated by all developing countries is really naked emperor. Trump with his Muslim ban has already unclothed Lady Liberty, now with Washington unable to control Trump, it has revealed the nakedness of the emperor. This sclerotic document was a compromise originally favored slavery states and small states. With small educated elites controlling the government it still splintered by Civil War. The Second Amendment as Bill Maher said was originally for militia to suppress slaves and native Americans. It metastases today to Las Vegas shooter. It needs 2/3 of both houses to pass 2 years in a row and 3/4 of states to pass any change. With a Supreme Court of conservatives favoring original meaning this dead document will never be able to change. The Supreme Court will also soon decide on the Wisconsin gerrymander case, whether they will sanctify it’s legal for 48% of votes getting more than 60% of seats in legislature.
Contrast present state of affairs of U.S. with China, the 68 anniversary of the founding of PRC, and the oncoming 19th Party Congress. Certainly there were errors and cul de sacs, yet as those documentaries shown recently that those errors are corrected and China is on a path to China Dream.
Constitution is changed and modified as society changes. I am happy that “Serve the People” is not just a slogan, but attaches meaning to move everyone out of poverty. Socialism with Chinese characteristics and integrating Marxism with Chinese conditions are goals for the party, as black cats or white cats no longer serve the present situation.

The current world order is grossly unfair … historians of an enlightened future may come back to view our times as the dark ages … when humans remain bonded to and oppressed by the  hegemony and ideology “markets,” “rule of law,” “freedom” and “democracy”.

The pure hypocrisy of the world is never ending.  And here is just one other small case study…

China is often accused by U.S. and Europe and Japan of over-protecting its economy from foreigners.  The foreigners want more access but Chinese are greedy; they disregard any concerns of China of over dependence on foreign nations for critical sectors of technology. Read more…

Finally, after over two months, the Sino-Indian Crisis at Dong Lang (Doklam) that began with Indian troops crossing into Chinese territory to stop a road construction is over.  On August 28, the Chinese government confirmed that the Indian troops have withdrawn from the Chinese side of Doklam. The Indian government gave the following statement:

• In recent weeks, India and China have maintained diplomatic communication in respect of the incident at Doklam.
• During these communications, we were able to express our views and convey our concerns and interests. On this basis, expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going.

I don’t need to go over all the details of the crisis here, as those are readily available elsewhere.  But those who want a primer, do an internet search for stories between June 18 and August 29, 2017 on “India” and “China” or “Doklam” or “Donglang” and you will get a good sample…

What I want to share here are some of my thoughts about this whole standoff… Read more…

We have talked about media bias against China, Chinese culture, and Chinese people a lot here.  Almost every day, you hear stories about how China is doing illicit things … or creating demands for illicit products.

We hear about China polluting the world, “flooding” the world with steel or solar panels or electronics or toys, etc. Of course, we rarely hear about the social good the world reaps with China’s “cheap” steel, solar panels, or electronics …

And when it’s not China doing bad things, we hear how China is making others do bad things.  We hear for example how China creates illicit demand for shark fins, ivory, rhino horns, etc.  The poachers become the victims when it comes to China. There are no evil poachers à la say evil “drug growers” and “drug dealers” in Mexico or Columbia supplying illicit drugs to the U.S. …. just bad Chinese consumers.

The world is rarely about saints and villains, but the West almost always caricatures China in those terms.  If China is involved in any way in a problematic supply chain, the fault is placed squarely on the Chinese.  Such reflexes are so ingrained that people often do it without even thinking about it.

The following screen shot is taken from Asia Times, not the most anti-Chinese publication per se.  But it’s noteworthy in the sense that rarely do I find a publication that unabashedly blames China on both the demand as well as supply side on the same page.

It’s truly damned if you do, damned if you don’t…

I was going to write another case study on the intrinsic hypocrisy in the rhetoric of freedom – how “freedom” is uttered when useful, and completely ignored when not – using Google’s recent “firing” of an employee who had written a memo that some deemed not politically correct as a basis of discussion.

But then I found that Paul Craig Roberts already wrote a good post on it already.

Here is a copy: Read more…