via theweek
The think tank’s research was reportedly presented in early April to top Chinese Communist Party officials, including President Xi Jinping. Reuters’ report is based off sources who have direct knowledge of the findings, though the news outlet has not seen the briefing itself. If reports of its contents are accurate, it would at least confirm Beijing is taking the backlash seriously, though Reuters notes it’s unclear if those concerns will ultimately influence policy.
The paper reportedly concluded the rising anti-China sentiment is in part a result of American efforts to undermine public confidence in Beijing amid the crisis.
That last line is a real tell of just how deep the Communist regime is stuck in its own head, as Communist regimes usually are. What Beijing forgets, or can’t allow itself to understand, is that it was easy for the West to sweep Tianneman and a few thousand dead Chinese under the rug as there was all that money still to be made. It’s much more difficult to do that after years of getting ripped off by the PRC and when the dead are in our own countries.
LIKE JOHN KERRY, THEY’RE FORGAINST IT: China Demands, Prevents Coronavirus Investigation.
COLD WAR II: U.S. rearms to nullify China’s missile supremacy.
The Pentagon intends to arm its Marines with versions of the Tomahawk cruise missile now carried on U.S. warships, according to the White House budget requests for 2021 and Congressional testimony in March of senior U.S. military commanders. It is also accelerating deliveries of its first new long-range anti-ship missiles in decades.
In a statement to Reuters about the latest U.S. moves, Beijing urged Washington to “be cautious in word and deed,” to “stop moving chess pieces around” the region, and to “stop flexing its military muscles around China.”
The U.S. moves are aimed at countering China’s overwhelming advantage in land-based cruise and ballistic missiles. The Pentagon also intends to dial back China’s lead in what strategists refer to as the “range war.” The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China’s military, has built up a huge force of missiles that mostly outrange those of the U.S. and its regional allies, according to senior U.S. commanders and strategic advisers to the Pentagon, who have been warning that China holds a clear advantage in these weapons.
And, in a radical shift in tactics, the Marines will join forces with the U.S. Navy in attacking an enemy’s warships. Small and mobile units of U.S. Marines armed with anti-ship missiles will become ship killers.
Remember Obama’s “pivot to Asia” that turned out to be a nothingburger with a side of zerofries? These new moves are the real deal.
An investigation by Canada’s Global News found that China secretly told embassies around the world to buy all personal protective equipment possible — in mid-January, when it knew the virus would likely go global.
The regime used diplomats, state-owned companies and Chinese émigrés to purchase N95 masks and other gear to ship “back batches of scarce supplies for the motherland.” About 100 tons shipped out of Canada alone — leaving that country with limited supplies when the pandemic hit.
That investigation backs up this week’s US Department of Homeland Security intelligence finding that China “intentionally concealed the severity” of its coronavirus crisis in January so it could stock up on medical supplies from abroad — which it also lied about, covering up trade data.
Pompeo addresses China’s lack of transparency in COVID-19 handling
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a press briefing at the State Department.
“There is no true win with a communist regime”
He’s encouraging other nations to support Taiwan stepping up on the world stage.
h/t SG