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US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

reuters.com

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Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#401
I don't know but the racism against Asian Americans needs to stop as majority of are not immigrants. Not just the immigrant complaint but not everyone Asian is Chinese. An elderly Thai man was brutally murdered by a couple racist kids, one ironically named Malaysia.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is also why dictatorship always have corruption. They cannot have transparency which means there will be corruption. Of course democracies are just as vulnerable to all the bad stuff as they are run by humans, but transparency is at least possible. Sadly we see national security being used as reason to avoid transparency, and of course corruption follows.

> Sadly we see national security being used as reason to avoid transparency, and of course corruption follows. Man it took forever for someone to make this point. There's a lot of bad Chinese Gov behavior that US Gov players absolutely aspire to.

Any organisation, or group, or person who’s granted any power will tend towards trying to accumulate more power. So while your comment is a bit hyperbolic, it’s true of the US government in the same way it’s true of every other government. For any grossly authoritarian policy you see the US government implement, you’ll typically find equivalent policies in Canada and the EU and the UK and Australia...

It’s not a new thing. The (paraphrased) quote “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance” is at least a couple hundred of years old. In practice however it’s not a very simple proposition at all. People typically agree with endlessly granting government additional powers when it’s for a policy they agree with.

The difference between the US (or France, or Germany, or the UK...) and China however, is that we actually have some mechanisms for holding our government to account (however flawed they might be). Whereas Chinese citizens have none at all.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why whenever people bring up that the virus might have come from a lab it always gets dismissed because the virus doesn't look artificial. Why is it never brought up that it could just be an accident? It doesn't need to be a weapon. Just poor safety during research.

Perhaps the virus was a lab leak. But maybe you’re looking at the wrong country for it. I mean, name any other country that has a lot of biological weapons labs all over the world.

This is wrong, even deceitful, for a couple reasons: 1) No country (officially, or afaik in reality) has a bio weapons lab, and certainly not "all over the world". Nobody (well, nobody official) ever said the Wuhan virus lab was a bioweapon lab; it's a virology lab.

2) The Wuhan virus lab has been experimenting with corona viruses for a long time, including gain of function, and it had a history of problems.

3) There's no indication--as in zero--that any other country had covid-19 cases before China. And in this case, lack of evidence IS evidence for lack, because case records are open (except in China, it seems).

Now if you want to debate this point further, I suggest that you establish with us that you are not a CCP hack. So repeat after me: Premier Xi looks like Winnie the Pooh.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#404
post #53

First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground". My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them. Which is exactly what thi…

I've said it here before, and I'll say it again:

Every Asia-focused analyst will tell you that the only aspect of China's state-reported numbers you can assume with a high degree of confidence is that they're heavily massaged for PR purposes.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If they had just responded to the outbreak instead of trying to cover it up initially and been a little more open with the international community they would have been lauded for their handling of the situation Are we talking about China or the Trump administration?

I'm no fan of the Trump administration or their handling of COVID, but they didn't throw doctors in jail or censor their research. Entirely different level of screwup.

ahem Rebekah Jones would like to have a word with you.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#406
post #53

First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground". My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them. Which is exactly what thi…

There's a real possibility that a gain-of-function experiment created SARS-CoV-2: "Lipsitch’s activists (calling themselves the Cambridge Working Group) sent around a strong statement on the perils of research with “Potential Pandemic Pathogens,” signed by more than a hundred scientists. The work might “trigger outbreaks that would be difficult or impossible to control,” the signers said. Fauci reconsidered, and the…

> This research creates deadly diseases that may not have existed otherwise.

This seems like a supremely bad idea.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#407
post #53

First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground". My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them. Which is exactly what thi…

I found it interesting that on HN, without concrete evidence, when OP says: don't ever trust {A} on issue {B}. Depending on what A, B is, OP will usually get treated differently.

A -> CCP. OP -> a concerned citizen.

A -> Race/Color/Religion/Gender. OP -> Racist/Sexist.

A -> Trump. OP -> a concern citizen.

A -> Scientist. OP -> conspiracist.

But one thing that I am sure is that it'll never ever be constructive. Not mean to be disrespectful, but I do hope this type of comment won't ever get to the top of HN.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it just me or is there a deep irony here? I find it interesting that one of the oft maligned attributes of religious communities, especially those in authority in said communities, is this same behavior. Do good things and be open, but also very much protect the brand. As a naive westerner I've hear/learned/assumed that Chinese communism/society was areligious. When described as you (OP) put it, it seems that abst…

The experience of changing from someone who believes all aspects of the “orthodoxy”, to someone who accepts that there are flaws in it, can be strikingly similar. A Chinese friend once described to me the week he discovered YouTube after going to study in America, when for the first time he saw videos of Chinese leaders (2000-era) behaving very rudely toward reporters. He found that shocking, and over the next few we…

And in free speech countries they have "QAnon conspiracy theory", "falsifiable", etc.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#409
post #394
post #53

First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground". My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them. Which is exactly what thi…

I was thinking if a virus was first spotted in New York City and it had a virus lab, would that be immediately blamed? It’s like all there is in Wuhan is a wet market and a virus research lab and they are located next to each other. I think that’s how the world perceives Wuhan.

Why is this supposed to be important? It literally doesn't matter if a virus comes out of a lab, if you can find an equally dangerous virus in the nearest bat cave. Being able to blame someone would not solve your actual problems.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#410
post #407
post #53

First gen Chinese, grew up in NA. Have contact with relatives "on the ground". My own experience: Don't ever trust the Chinese government on issues that could potentially involve the reputation of the party. Note that I'm not saying don't trust what CCP says, ever (sometimes they actually do good things) - just not on issues that involve anything to do with how the world might perceive them. Which is exactly what thi…

I found it interesting that on HN, without concrete evidence, when OP says: don't ever trust {A} on issue {B}. Depending on what A, B is, OP will usually get treated differently. A -> CCP. OP -> a concerned citizen. A -> Race/Color/Religion/Gender. OP -> Racist/Sexist. A -> Trump. OP -> a concern citizen. A -> Scientist. OP -> conspiracist. But one thing that I am sure is that it'll never ever be constructive. Not me…

I mean, if you say “don’t ever trust” an entire race/sex, then yeah, by definition you are racist/sexist.
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