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Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

thehill.com

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Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#121

Post by mythrwy »

robomartin wrote: post #117
woofie11 wrote: post #81

Thank you. That's what I gotta say. Thank you. I hate all the cynics and conspiracy theories here. It's a generous move, and deeply appreciated. Jack didn't spend that much money to be a douchebag. He spent it because this will save countless lives.

Well. Not so fast. It isn't cynicism to point out issues with this idea. You can't accept half a million random tests kits and use them for anything. It isn't that simple. At a minimum, we know nothing about where they came from, their traceability, method of manufacture, sterility, etc. And then there's the reality that "test kits" does not mean swab-to-result technology. There's a lot more to testing someone for, w…

Given the choice between a Chinese mask that perhaps didn't meet some specification (but probably does) and, no mask which is better I wonder?

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#122

Post by knzhou »

taiwanboy wrote: post #114
knzhou wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the PRC doesn't want these rumors to circulate, these rumors would not last more than a hour Reddit tries to stop conspiracy theories with quarantines and bans. But they're rapidly spreading anyway. > 2. I don't see US' Secretary of State accusing China of intentionally creating the virus. It really is symmetric: Tom Cotton, Senator from Arkansas, has been on Fox saying exactly this. Fox also has other people on…

Disingenuous comparison. Ministers of foreign affairs in China is similar to Secretary of State in US. A senator is nowhere near equivalent.

Senators are within the top 100 most powerful people in the US. They represent millions of people.

I think you're just grasping at straws because you've already decided what narrative you want. In which case there's nothing more for me to say here.

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#123

Post by meowface »

maest wrote: post #50
soneil wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He also sent similar to Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Spain - which makes it look a little less so, at least to my eye.

It's amazing how much impact leaving this information out has.

It's still a power move. Just a global one.

I have no doubt his intention really is to save lives, but a secondary motive is surely also PR. Perhaps the Chinese state had some role in this, as well. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I could see a possible benign conspiracy like them using Jack as a proxy to distribute these.

If they did it officially, it could be trusted less and the motive would seem more blatant. And Jack of course has enough money to do this himself, but such a big international move might require the approval of the government.

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#124

Post by untog »

soneil wrote: post #61
maest wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how much impact leaving this information out has.

Indeed. On it's own, it looks like .. I'm not sure "willy-waving" translates into American well. But once you realise they're sending them everywhere, it makes it look more like they've ramped production up to stupifying numbers (which is China's speciality afterall), and have realised their value in goodwill is far beyond their dollar value. (or, yes, propaganda - there's not a lot of real difference between PR, pro…

> I'm not sure "willy-waving" translates into American well.

The translation you are looking for is "dick swinging" :)

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#125

Post by _gccu »

robomartin wrote: post #117
woofie11 wrote: post #81

Thank you. That's what I gotta say. Thank you. I hate all the cynics and conspiracy theories here. It's a generous move, and deeply appreciated. Jack didn't spend that much money to be a douchebag. He spent it because this will save countless lives.

Well. Not so fast. It isn't cynicism to point out issues with this idea. You can't accept half a million random tests kits and use them for anything. It isn't that simple. At a minimum, we know nothing about where they came from, their traceability, method of manufacture, sterility, etc. And then there's the reality that "test kits" does not mean swab-to-result technology. There's a lot more to testing someone for, w…

[flagged]

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#126

Post by _gccu »

NortySpock wrote: post #119
robomartin wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. Not so fast. It isn't cynicism to point out issues with this idea. You can't accept half a million random tests kits and use them for anything. It isn't that simple. At a minimum, we know nothing about where they came from, their traceability, method of manufacture, sterility, etc. And then there's the reality that "test kits" does not mean swab-to-result technology. There's a lot more to testing someone for, w…

But you can trace all of that after the fact. If you have a positive result you can go prove it later. If you have a negative result you can go prove that later. But you can at least start by acting on the result.

So if you get a negative result from the test-kit, you let the person go, then later after the fact, you realize that it's a false-negative and you shouldn't have let the patient go ... now you've just spread the virus even more

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#127

Post by TheTylerRose »

soneil wrote: post #30
_bxg1 wrote: post #8

Seems like a power move to me. Painting a picture for the world of struggling U.S. institutions needing a Chinese billionaire's help to weather a crisis. I'm not even sure it's incorrect.

He also sent similar to Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Spain - which makes it look a little less so, at least to my eye.

It can be a political move and be sent to many other countries as well. That makes it more subtle. Jack Ma is really just a CCP puppet, this is a blatant political move. The US doesn’t even need test kits right now!

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#128

Post by _bxg1 »

meowface wrote: post #123
maest wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how much impact leaving this information out has.

It's still a power move. Just a global one. I have no doubt his intention really is to save lives, but a secondary motive is surely also PR. Perhaps the Chinese state had some role in this, as well. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I could see a possible benign conspiracy like them using Jack as a proxy to distribute these. If they did it officially, it could be trusted less and the motive would seem more b…

> I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist

Often ideas that might fall into conspiracy territory with most governments are actually pretty realistic when it comes to the CCP.

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#129

Post by avocado4 »

t2riRXawYxLGGYb wrote: post #97

Power move or not, these are things the US desperately needs. Just accept the damn supplies, thank them, and try to do better next time.

There's no shortage of test kits, there's a shortage of PCR lab capacity to process those samples.

Masks and ventilators would be a good thing to donate though.

Re: Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US

#130

Post by ryandrake »

NortySpock wrote: post #119
robomartin wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. Not so fast. It isn't cynicism to point out issues with this idea. You can't accept half a million random tests kits and use them for anything. It isn't that simple. At a minimum, we know nothing about where they came from, their traceability, method of manufacture, sterility, etc. And then there's the reality that "test kits" does not mean swab-to-result technology. There's a lot more to testing someone for, w…

But you can trace all of that after the fact. If you have a positive result you can go prove it later. If you have a negative result you can go prove that later. But you can at least start by acting on the result.

Exactly. At this point only irredeemable bureaucrats care whether a face mask meets ISO-12345 compliance or a test kit has documents stamped by the right government Deputy Inspector of Inspectors. Bring the things in and worry about the right official seals of approval later.
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