China CDC: Student brought back the mutant virus from the UK on 14 December 2020

Reporter : Jing Zhongming / Editor: Yun Tao / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021938.html / Direct translation / Image : CCP virus (SARS-CoV-2) (Tumisu / Pixabay)

After the UK announced the spread of a more contagious SARS-CoV-2 (CCP virus) variant, more than 20 countries have reported the discovery of the mutant virus. A few days ago, a Chinese Communist Party official also revealed in an English news report that a female student returning from the UK to Shanghai was diagnosed on 14 December 2020 and confirmed to be infected with this variant virus on 24 December.

The China CDC described the above cases in an English research report released on Wednesday (30 December). The report stated that after returning from the UK, the 23-year-old female student was diagnosed with the CCP virus on 14 December and CDC genetically sequenced her samples on 24 December. The results showed that the infected strain was the same as the variant CCP virus circulating in the UK.

The report said that two days before the female student returned home, that is, on 12 December, her virus test result was negative. The female student reported that she had not been in contact with a confirmed patient in the UK, but did not wear a mask while running in the park. In addition, female students took off their masks to eat on the plane returning home.

Based on this judgment, the Chinese Communist Party officially discovered the mutant virus at least a week ago, but it was not mentioned in the English research report until 30 December, and it has not yet been notified to the Chinese people.

The Chinese Communist government has always been known for concealing the epidemic. In addition to the variant CCP virus from the UK, there are also unofficial news that the current raging epidemic in Shenyang and the mainland may be related to other types of highly contagious variant viruses. However, under the CCP’s strict information blockade, it is difficult to verify the authenticity of these messages.

Among them, a screenshot of an online chat stated that official internal information from Shenyang showed that the locally diagnosed elderly woman surnamed Yin was actually infected with a European variant L subtype virus, which is extremely infectious and aggressive and difficult to detect. It is difficult to treat after the onset. There is also news that the woman surnamed Yin died within a few days of the illness.

In overseas Chinese forums, a netizen who frequently broke the news about the outbreak in mainland China quoted news from the Dalian front line saying that the Dalian outbreak was caused by a special variant virus, which is different from the B117 variant that appeared in the UK, but the contagion is similar. To some extent, it is more infectious than B117.

The news also said that this time the variant virus in the northeast mainly attacked the cardiovascular system and easily caused thrombosis, so it was easy for the victim to fall on the road.

Is the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine really effective? The U.S. and Spain nurses are all diagnosed after vaccination

Reporter : Zheng Gusheng / Editor: Yun Tao / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021963.html / Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Countries all over the world are launching the SARS-CoV-2 (CCP virus)  vaccine, but its effectiveness and safety have been questioned. According to media reports, there have been cases of medical staff becoming infected after being vaccinated in both the United States and Spain.

Matthew W., an emergency room nurse in San Diego, California, was vaccinated on December 18 with a vaccine jointly developed by the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German BioNTech. However, six days later, on December 24, symptoms such as chills began to appear. Later, he fell due to muscle aches and fatigue. He was diagnosed by the hospital on December 26th.

In addition, a nurse who works in a nursing home in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, tested positive 24 hours after being vaccinated with Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on December 27. The health department subsequently confirmed the matter.

Some experts say that the confirmed doctor may have been infected before the vaccine. Pfizer previously stated that the vaccine needs to be vaccinated in two separate doses, 3 weeks apart, and the best protective effect can be achieved 7 days after the second dose. The effective rate can reach 90%.

For the CCP, Sinopharm claimed that its vaccine has an effective rate of 79%. However, internal news spread on the Internet that its vaccine is only 60% effective against the original strain, not to mention the various mutant strains currently circulating. Radio Free Asia confirmed that at least hundreds of foreign workers from state-owned enterprises who were vaccinated in China were infected collectively abroad.

SARS-CoV-2 is very easy to mutate, and its mutation rate is much higher than that of vaccine development, so it is difficult to develop an effective vaccine. After the outbreak at the beginning of this year, many studies have shown that some people infected with the CCP virus do not produce antibodies. Even if antibodies are produced, their effectiveness can generally only last for two to three months.

However, after countries scrambled to compress the R&D process to push the vaccine, the above-mentioned doubts rarely appeared in the media.

Details of Zhang Zhan's trial: She repeatedly fought back, leaving the judge speechless

Reporter : Zhu Ying / Editor : Yun Tao / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021940.html / Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Image : On December 28, 2020, two pro-democracy activists holding a photo (left) and a poster (right) of Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist, called on the Beijing authorities to release Zhang Zhan and 12 Hong Kong residents. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Chinese citizen reporter Zhang Zhan was sentenced to 4 years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking troubles" for filming and publishing videos of the Wuhan epidemic. The international community has expressed concern over this and demanded that the Chinese authorities release her unconditionally. On Wednesday (30 December), Zhang Zhan’s defense lawyer disclosed to the outside world what she said during the court trial.

In the morning of the 28 December 2020, the Shanghai Pudong New District Court of the Communist Party of China sentenced Zhang Zhan to four years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Zhang Zhan’s defense attorney disclosed to the outside world on 30 December that Zhang Zhan was silent most of the time during the trial, and that she had spoken back several times during the period.

According to the lawyer’s disclosure, when the presiding judge verified Zhang Zhan’s personal information, Zhang did not answer her personal information, but questioned the presiding judge, “Don’t you think you pushed me to the dock, your conscience will tell you this is wrong. Is it?" The presiding judge was speechless on the spot, not knowing how to respond.

At the stage when the collegiate panel informed the parties about their rights and obligations, the presiding judge announced the list of the collegiate panel and prosecutors and asked Zhang Zhan what she thought. Zhang Zhan responded, "Until you correct your mistakes, there is no way to answer. This is the court where you will be tried, not the court where I will be tried."

When the presiding judge continued to inform the litigants and defenders of their litigation rights, Zhang Zhan interrupted and said, "This is your judicial game."

When the prosecutor finished reading the indictment, the presiding judge asked Zhang Zhan: "Is it true? Answer directly." Zhang Zhan replied: "During the Han Dynasty, it was not guilty to slander the government."

When the public prosecutor asked when Zhang Zhan entered Wuhan, whether she had released relevant information through Twitter and YouTube, and accepted interviews with overseas media, Zhang Zhan replied, "The decline of this country is precisely because you have these absurd problems."

When the defender Ren Quanniu asked Zhang Zhan's opinion on the indictment, Zhang Zhan responded that the government's accusation against the people was inherently wrong, because it meant that every sentence of the citizens would be reviewed by the government. The prosecutor accused her of spreading rumours, but the videos she shot recorded or reposted others' words. She emphasized that it is this kind of speech control that makes society insecure, and "the fear of the country comes from distrust of the people."

After the verdict of the Zhang Zhan case, the attorney Ren Quanniu told the media that the case may be appealed. He said that Zhang Zhan believed that the real reason for his arrest was "exercising the right to freedom of speech."

In February 2020, when the epidemic in Wuhan was at its worst, Zhang Zhan entered Wuhan for field interviews and shooting. She went to hospitals, communities, police stations and many other places on the front line of the epidemic in Wuhan to film the real situation there, and then posted the interview video clips to her YouTube channel. On 14 May, Zhang Zhan said in her last report on the epidemic on her YouTube channel, “The way of urban management mainly relies on intimidation and intimidation. This is really the sadness of this country.”

An anonymous lawyer told Radio Free Asia that Zhang Zhan has been detained for more than seven months and has been fighting in two ways: one is to use a hunger strike to protest against her arrest, persecution and trial; the other is to refuse to answer questions. She expressed her protest against the so-called trial in silent protest.

2020: A year of scams, and a more dangerous 2021 as a result of covid

Reports by : Gan Yung Chyan, Fuyao / KUCINTA SETIA, Current Affairs 

News (1)

Year-end summary: a year of scams

In hours' time, Singapore and the rest of the world will pass 2020 and enter 2021. Many people like to look back at how the past year has passed and what memorable things have happened at the end of the year. 

However it is ironic to read an inventory article in The Independent today, with the headline,“2020, a year shrouded in conspiracy” (I suggest turning it into “2020, a year of scams”, To say that the conspiracy is a bit exaggerated, and the content should not be considered a conspiracy). This translation is a bit poetic. It means 2020 is the year of scams and scams means scam and fraud.

The article first talks about the impact of the epidemic on the economy. Because of this epidemic, many people work at home, and many people have lost their jobs. People live in fear and fear of their future economic conditions. During this period, some "frauds" have emerged.

For example, the U.S. General Administration of Taxation and Customs reported more than 15,000 "fake web pages." Among them, there are some fake "self-reporting" websites that provide people with fake "tax refund information." After people log in, these websites will use people's banking information to steal it.

In addition, there are some websites that take advantage of people's attention to the epidemic. For example, during the epidemic, some websites describe themselves as being related to the CDC in the United States so that people can use this website to inquire. Besides the list of infected people, these malicious websites have a strange feature, that is, requiring users or traders to pay in cash or Bitcoin.

There are also Facebook and possibly WhatsApp scams. In these scams, users of Facebook left messages on news, disputed negative comments on work-from-home investment schemes and referred users to experts that claimed they are able to help people earn more money ten times in a week from online trading. People who are zealous to learn new skills in online trading turn up on the experts' Whatsapp pages and follow them step-by-step to invest and boost profits. Never did they know in order to get the profits and refunds they need to pay service fees in Bitcoin many times to protect their profits. These turn out to be new investment scams when people eventually find out that they have to borrow money to pay debts to the banks as a result of their Bitcoin expenses with no guarantee.

What has happened this year is devastating to many people.

The nearest "fraud" scam occurred just past Christmas.

The article says that while people are shopping online, someone will forward emails, messages, and ask for sensitive personal information, credit card details, etc. Police and investigators warned the public to beware of these malicious websites.

There are also various situations because people have lost the opportunity to communicate face-to-face, giving criminals more room for evil.

Many people have encountered a lot of troubles this year. How can we get rid of these bad luck? While many people will be out trying to take snapshots of beautiful fireworks, many people are remaining at home to watch live fireworks on television. People take this opportunity to write down any unpleasant, embarrassing, bad memories and bad luck in the past year, and so on.

In fact, in the final analysis, many of the troubles are still caused by SARS-CoV-2 (CCP virus). Without the impact of the CCP virus, there would be no such later troubles. Where did the CCP virus come from? Nobody knows but what is known is that the CCP virus is inextricably linked to the CCP.

Staying away from the CCP seems to have become the best medicine to stay away from this virus.

News (2)

Shenyang enters wartime state, Chinese vaccine "let the leaders fight first" against CCP virus

The sharp drop in temperature caught people off guard, and the ferocity of the epidemic exceeded many Chinese imagination.

Today, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, held a press conference on the epidemic, saying that in response to the current “severe and complex” epidemic situation, Shenyang City initiated an emergency response and entered a war-time state in an all-round way; the authorities required closed management of all communities where confirmed cases live in the city. The number of people in closed management exceeds 17,000.

In addition, Shenyang also strictly controls the number, scale, and time of large-scale conferences, and requires closed management of the entire process of related conferences. All group worship and large-scale condolences, parties, dinner parties, training and other activities will be cancelled. In principle, the number of consumers accepted in performances, indoor entertainment and other places cannot exceed 75% of the approved number.

Up to now, there are 5 epidemic-risk areas in Shenyang, namely Hongda Community, Beiling Street, Yuhong District, Shenyang City, China Resources Oak Bay Phase II, Jiye Baihuayuan Community, Huanggu District, Shenyang City, and Zhonghai in Yuhong District City constellation community.

In Dalian, Liaoning, the epidemic is even more serious. Today, Dalian has added 4 additional medium-risk areas, bringing a total of 16 medium-risk areas.

However, in the face of the menacing epidemic, the Chinese people are still skeptical of domestic vaccines, and calls for "let the leaders fight first" are one after another.

People are worried for a reason, because the news of China's CCP virus vaccine and vaccine fraud has not been interrupted in the past few years. In March 2010, nearly a hundred children in Shanxi Province died or became disabled after being vaccinated, which caused widespread concern in the society and was called the "Shanxi Vaccine Incident." In 2017, the DTP vaccine produced by Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was found that the potency index did not meet the requirements. Less than a year later, in July 2018, this company was exposed to fraudulent records in the production of rabies vaccines.

On 22 December, Zhang Wenhong, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, said at the meeting, "I personally think that if you want to fight now, you must fight first."

The Epoch Times learned that Shanghai Yangpu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine conducted a thorough investigation at the end of November, and more than 90% of medical staff refused to receive domestic vaccines.

Mr. Zhou, a resident of Anhui, said to VOA, “If I were to be vaccinated, I would definitely not be the first one, because this vaccine is not yet reliable and needs to be internationally recognized. It is internationally recognized that this Chinese vaccine can be used, and we ordinary people can only Use it with confidence... Whether the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is a virulent vaccine, I think we still don’t know."

Li Datong, former editor of China Youth Daily "Freezing Point" magazine, said, "China's vaccine information is too opaque. How many experiments have been conducted, what are the results of the first phase, the second phase, and the third phase? How can the side effects be like? Now it is not transparent, I don't know. So who would dare to fight? So Shanghai Zhang Wenhong was right, when should he fight? You can fight only when the leaders have finished the fight."

The "Citizen Power" publication "Yi Pao" also published an article titled, "The Voice of the Chinese: Let the Leaders Get the Vaccine First".

News (3)

Beijing’s "Sunday" Vision, Shenzhen Court of the Communist Party of China "Judgment" on 12 Hong Kong people

In 2020, people have experienced disasters and visions one after another. On 30 December, a number of mainland media reported that the unusual celestial phenomenon of the "three suns" appeared over Beijing. People called it the "sun sun".

This scene started around 9 o'clock in the morning and lasted about 2 hours, sparking discussions among many netizens. Some people say, "What's the omen again? I start to interpret it with a big brain hole..." Others say it is a "great omen", "in recent years, especially recently, frequent astronomical anomalies."

"Harmony between man and nature" is an important concept of Chinese traditional culture. The ancient Chinese believed that the sky is above the sky, and it controls the rise and fall of human history and the blessings and blessings of the world; if the king is ordered by the sky, if he cannot follow the sky and has errors and mistakes, then the sky will warn and condemn the strange celestial phenomena and natural disasters.

However, the CCP, which believes in atheism and wants to "fight against the sky and the earth," has never heeded the warnings given by the sky, and their unscrupulous evil deeds have never stopped.

Today, the Shenzhen Yantian Court of the Communist Party of China issued a so-called “judgment” against 12 Hong Kong people who were “sent to China” for more than four months. Among them, Deng Jiran was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the crime of “organizing others to cross the border” and a fine of 20,000 yuan; Qiao Yingyu was sentenced to 2 years in prison for the same crime and a fine of 15,000 yuan.

The other eight people were sentenced to 7 months’ imprisonment for the crime of “steering across the border” and a fine of RMB 10,000. There were also two minors who voluntarily pleaded guilty and pleaded guilty to the crime of smuggling across the border after reviewing them in private After making a decision not to prosecute, the Shenzhen side transferred the two to the Hong Kong police this morning.

News (4)

First anniversary of the CCP virus epidemic

30 December 2020 is the first anniversary of the exposure of the CCP virus, and also the first anniversary of Dr. Li Wenliang from Wuhan Central Hospital “blowing the whistle” in the WeChat group.

According to Radio Free Asia, some private individuals have launched the anniversary online, but the Chinese Communist Party is facing a major enemy. The doctors of the Wuhan Central Hospital revealed that the passports and Hong Kong and Macau passports of all doctors in the hospital had been confiscated. The authorities did not explain the reason, but they believed it was related to maintaining stability.

Ms. Liu, who works in the Hubei Provincial Health Commission system, said that in the morning of 30 December, a public account called Erxiang published an article commemorating the first anniversary of Li Wenliang’s whistleblowing. Wuhan was highly nervous and pressured. She also disclosed that until now, Li Wenliang's relatives and Dr. Ai Fen were still "stabilizing."

News (5)

Yemen airport terror attack

Let’s take another look. At local time this afternoon, an explosion occurred in Yemen, a Middle Eastern country. According to Al-Hadath TV station, the attack occurred when a new government member’s plane arrived at Yemen’s Aden airport and cabinet ministers were about to disembark.

There were many loud explosions and gunfire at the scene. The known death toll has reached 26 people and more than 60 people have been injured. An explosion occurred near the Presidential Palace in Yemen afterwards, and the cabinet members who experienced the airport explosion were brought here. The outside world is still unclear about the casualties of the second explosion.

Yemen’s Minister of Information, Mohammar Al-Eryani, accused on Twitter that this was an attack carried out by Houthi rebels backed by Iran.

This year, the bad news we heard is indeed far more than the good news. People have been waiting for the bad days to pass quickly, but they are murmured again, can the days come to be better? Can human beings get better?

News (6)

Nostradamus:  2021 will be more dangerous; zombie virus, earthquake, famine

In the past few days, the British popular newspaper "The Mirror" has compiled a number of Nostradamus predictions about 2021, which involve a "horrible virus", a great famine, and a major earthquake.

Nostradamus is a famous French prophet. He wrote "The Centuries" 300 years ago. He is known for his successful predictions of major events in history, including the French Revolution, the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the 9/11 incident.

According to "The Centuries", in 2021, a scientist will create a biological weapon. This weapon will create a terrible virus that will turn humans into zombies and become extinct. He wrote that there are fewer and fewer young people, half alive, many parents die in endless sadness, and the world will no longer exist.

Nostradamus also predicted that a major earthquake will occur in the United States. Later generations interpreted that the location of the earthquake was likely to be in California. The book reads like this: "Sloping parks, huge disasters, boats crossing the entire western land and Lombardy, fires, plagues, and imprisonment on the boats."

"The Centuries" also mentioned that the earth will encounter the great famine described in the Bible in 2021. This happened after more and more earthquake disasters and virus spread. The scale of the Great Famine in 2021 is huge and unprecedented.

Will these disasters really happen? As we mentioned earlier, the ancient Chinese believed in "the unity of man and nature." Natural disasters and visions are warnings from God. We believe that as long as the human heart is good and the righteousness in this world rises, then human beings can avoid these disasters.

News (7)

Birthday of Mike Pompeo

First of all, today is the birthday of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo has always cooperated with President Trump tacitly and worked hard. He is also unrelenting in anti-CCP, and he is so angry that the CCP’s mouthpiece jumps and scolds many times. Pompeo also exposes his daily life on his personal Twitter account, helping his wife to wash dishes and making meatballs, all of which seem to be doing well.

This morning, the US State Department tweeted to wish Pompeo a happy birthday. But in the attached picture, he was still in a hurry, taking a plane, rushing to the next stop.

StayGate wishes the U.S. Secretary of State a happy birthday and work for the United States for another four years.

News (8)

McConnell's bill contains two thousand U.S. dollar checks and Trump requirements

On 30 December, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a quick vote on the $2,000 relief check bill, which made many people even more disappointed in him.

McConnell introduced the version of the bill he proposed. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to find that this version increased the amount of the $600 relief check to $2,000. It also included two other priorities proposed by President Trump. One is the abolition of the Communications Decency Act. Clause 230, this clause is believed to protect technology giants like Google and Facebook from most liability lawsuits; the other is to establish an Election Assistance Commission to study election integrity.

McConnell said, "These are the three important themes that the president has brought together." "This week the Senate will begin addressing these three priorities."

However, his remarks did not "firmly" guarantee that any of these issues will be voted on, or that he himself will make special efforts for these issues.

News (9)

First among senators, Hawley speaks out to challenge electoral votes

US Senator Josh Hawley said that he will challenge the results of the Electoral College at the joint meeting of Congress on 6 January 2021. This is the first senator confirmed to join a dozen Republican congressmen to challenge the Electoral College vote results.

Holly tweeted that the voices of millions of voters concerned about the integrity of the election need to be paid attention to, "I will represent them on January 6 to oppose the results of the Electoral College votes."

In the attached written statement, Hawley said that he would not certify this result, especially in Pennsylvania, which did not conduct the general election in accordance with state laws. At the same time, big technology companies, Twitter, and Facebook, in order to support Biden, have carried out "serious" interventions in this election, and he will not verify these results.

The most basic thing is that Congress should investigate the results but Congress has not done this at all. It is far from it.

Hawley also pointed out in the statement that Democrats raised objections during the certification of the 2004 and 2016 election results, saying "to raise concerns about election integrity." They did this and were praised by the leaders of the Democratic Party and the media, saying that they "have the right to do this." Now Republicans also "have the right to do the same thing."

Some netizens replied that (election fraud, intervention by big technology companies) and so on are all brought about by socialism, and this is the plan of the left. Others praised Hawley, saying "this is what the ‘hero’ did."

Ref: https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021643.html

US media: Trump received intelligence, CCP plans to hire people to attack US military

Reporter : Li Yun / Editor: Fan Ming / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021312.html / Direct translation

Image : On December 10, 2020, after the US withdrew from Afghanistan, US soldiers were informed of the CCP virus isolation procedures. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Several US media reported that US President Trump  recently received intelligence that the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to provide fees to allow "non-state actors"  to attack the US military in Afghanistan.

US media news sites Axios and CNN reported that this intelligence declassified by the Trump administration was reported to Trump orally by White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien in the President’s Daily Briefing on December 17.

Two government officials revealed that the Trump administration is declassifying unconfirmed intelligence that shows that the CCP pays some fees to Afghanistan’s “non-state actors” to attack US troops in Afghanistan.

An official revealed that the United States has evidence that the CCP is trying to fund attacks on American soldiers by “non-state actors” in Afghanistan by providing economic stimulus or bounties. He said that the National Security Council “is coordinating investigations by all government agencies.” But he did not specify whether "non-state forces" refer to the Taliban.

The official said that the "bounty incident" occurred after the U.S. reached an agreement with the Taliban in late February, and no U.S. military has died in Afghanistan since then.

Earlier in 2020, it was also rumored that Russia was offering a bounty to the Islamic extremist organization Taliban for the killing of US troops in Afghanistan.

Both Britain and the United States have condemned the Taliban for using weapons made by the CCP. The report believes that the CCP’s interest in Afghanistan clearly stems from Beijing’s desire to prevent Chinese Muslim groups from using Afghanistan as a base.

General Mackenzie, the commander of the US military in Afghanistan, said in September that there is no evidence that Russia provided the bounty. (This information was included in the President’s daily briefing earlier this year and was first reported by The New York Times.)

The report said that once the information is verified, it means that the tension between the United States and China will rise significantly and the strategy of the Chinese Communist Party will also undergo a major change. However, if the intelligence cannot be confirmed, people will question the motive for providing the source of the intelligence and the motive for deciding to decipher it.

The United States reached an agreement with the Afghan militia organization "The Bachelor of Theology" in February, promising to withdraw its troops by May 2021 to promote the peaceful development of Afghanistan.

According to a report by the Voice of America, Trump said in an interview on October 8 that the United States has been at war with Afghanistan for 19 years and that the United States has been withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. Currently, there are only 4,000 troops left, and it is expected that they will be fully withdrawn by the end of 2020.

Trump stated that he hopes that the United States will withdraw its troops deployed overseas to reduce its consumption, and the United States must always prepare for the CCP, Russia, North Korea and other places.

As early as two years ago, Professor Thomas Mahnken of the U.S. Naval Military Academy issued a warning in the U.S. media that the Chinese military was deploying weapons such as ballistic and cruise missiles to destroy U.S. core facilities.

Mahnken said that the CCP is developing military technology around the clock to destroy US command, control, and communications facilities. It also includes US intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and navigation systems, which are critical to US military operations. He believes that if there is a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Guam is likely to be involved.

Facing the challenge of the CCP, US President Trump adjusted its national security strategy in 2018, recognized the CCP as the number one enemy, and proposed to replace the "Asia-Pacific Strategy" with the "Indo-Pacific Strategy". This strategy will be recognized by more Western countries in 2020.

Japan's declassified "June 4th" documents exposed, deceived by the CCP for 30 years

Reporter : Li Yun / Editor: Li Quan / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021442.html / Direct translation / Image : Catherine Henriette/AFP/Getty Images

Recently, Japan has declassified 26 volumes of diplomatic documents, including the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the Tiananmen Massacre. Western countries imposed economic sanctions on the CCP. Diplomatic documents show that Japan insists that the West should not take strong measures against the CCP in order to allow it to reform. It was not until 30 years later that Japan discovered that it was deceived by the CCP.

On December 31, the British media BBC reported that Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) declassified 26 diplomatic documents last week, up to more than 10,000 pages, containing "extremely confidential" photocopying materials, which are rare in Japan after World War II, a large amount of public diplomatic historical data.

The diplomatic documents declassified this time contain historical data on Japanese foreign policy from 1987 to 1990. In the past three years, the world suffered the collapse of the communist camp, and many countries in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe embraced democracy.

But in China, in June 1989, the Tiananmen Square Movement to suppress students broke out during the June Fourth Movement. The CCP sent troops to brutally suppress students pursuing democracy, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths and more than 40,000 injuries. Strongly condemned by the international community.

At that time, Western countries including Japan reassessed their relations with the CCP. The declassified documents show that after the incident, Japan stated to China that "from a humanitarian standpoint, we cannot tolerate it at all." At the same time, Japan insists that the West should not take strong measures against the CCP.

At the G7 summit held in Paris, France in July of the same year, the seven major industrial nations, including Japan, discussed and issued a statement on severe condemnation and further sanctions against the CCP, which encountered resistance from Japan.

At that time, Japan's total economic productivity was still 8 times that of China, and it was also the largest aid country to China, with a large amount of investment in China.

Although Japan's move was opposed by several Western allies, the G7 countries finally reached a consensus, "We must avoid isolating China in order to allow it to reform." After 1990, the diplomacy between China and Japan made honeymoon progress. In July of the same year, Japan resumed its aid loans to the CCP.

In 1991, Toshiki Kaibe, then Prime Minister of Japan, was invited to visit Beijing, and finally achieved King Akihito's visit to China in 1992.

The BBC stated that the "stable and open China policy" that Japan had hoped for seemed to be fulfilled. But today, 30 years later, Japan has once again come to a crossroads, facing the dilemma of how to get along with Beijing.

Since 2020, Beijing has concealed that the CCP virus has caused the epidemic to spread across the world and brought heavy disasters to people of all countries. So far, more than 18 million people have been infected and nearly 2 million have died.

In addition, the CCP’s practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have made the international community increasingly vigilant. Western countries led by the United States have realized their own safety and have joined forces to encircle and suppress the CCP and "disconnect" from the CCP. Including Australia and Canada also attacked hard and criticized Beijing.

The BBC said that Japan’s current attitude is still relatively ambiguous. In response to the declassified documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" published an editorial saying that in the past 30 years, China's development direction is completely different from what you imagined. The CCP has grown into an economy three times larger than Japan.

The editorial said that the CCP is oppressing basic human rights. As a member of the international community, Japan should express a clearer position with the CCP, reflect on its weak attitudes and learn lessons.

Japan's "Sankei Shimbun" also criticized that the attitude towards the CCP in the past 30 years has been misguided, and the Japanese government should deeply reflect on it. The report believes that Xi Jinping's authoritarian behaviour and the use of huge economic power to cultivate military power are also responsible for such threats to Japan. They also believe that the CCP should not allow Xi Jinping to visit Japan as a state guest because the CCP does not attach importance to human rights issues.

Shizuoka Prefectural University, Professor Suwa Kazuki, who specializes in modern Chinese politics, said that Hong Kong was once the touchstone for people's expectations that China could be democratized first, but it has suffered more oppression than expected. In the face of the CCP where there is no possibility of democratization, Japan should take the experience of 30 years ago and calmly judge the next step.

Kyoto University professor Nakanishi Teru Masa also said that China and Japan have their geographical similarities. The Japanese side looked forward to China's reform and opening up and let Japan embark on a pro-China line. This expectation that the economy will affect democracy has caused misjudgments in the world.

China's vaccines cause concern, "Let the leaders fight first" became a buzzword

Reporter : Luo Tingting / Editor: Fan Ming / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021357.html / Direct translation

The safety and effectiveness of the CCP virus vaccine produced in China have been questioned by the outside world. A survey shows that the Chinese government agencies and medical staff have a negative attitude towards vaccination in China. For this reason, some experts proposed that the vaccine "let the leaders fight first," but unexpectedly it detonated the Internet and became a buzzword in mainland China.

The epidemic in mainland China has spread rapidly, and the official plan is to vaccinate a large area in China, but the response from the people is cold. Recently, an emergency notice of vaccination in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province was posted online, showing that none of the local CCP government officials signed up.

Shanghai conducted a similar investigation in November, and it turned out that medical staff were reluctant to receive Chinese vaccines. Among them, more than 90% of medical staff in Yangpu District Chinese Medicine Hospital refused to receive Chinese vaccines.

On December 22, Professor Zhang Wenhong, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, expressed his personal views on the refusal of the Chinese vaccine by medical staff at a meeting.

Zhang Wenhong said, "Whether you have 10% vaccination or 20% vaccination, we are not in a hurry."

He also bluntly said, "Then who should fight first today? I personally think that the leading cadres must fight first."

Zhang Wenhong's suggestion that the vaccine "let the leaders fight first" triggered heated discussions among netizens and became a buzzword on the mainland. Some netizens joked: "The vaccine must be vaccinated for high-risk groups first, and ordinary people can go a little later."

Li Datong, former editor of Freezing Point magazine of China Youth Daily, told VOA: "China's vaccine information is too opaque. How many experiments have been conducted, what are the results of Phase I, Phase II and Phase III? What are the side effects? It is not transparent now, I don’t know. , Then who dares to fight?"

He said, "Zhang Wenhong was right. When should we fight? You can only fight when the leaders are finished."

Mr. Zhou, a resident of Anhui, said that it’s not necessarily useful if the leader fights first. It depends on which level of leadership is doing this demonstration: "It’s good to let the leader fight first, but it depends on what leader it is. County leaders? Provincial leaders? Or central leaders? We don't know this, right?"

The Yi Pao published a signed article "The Voice of the Chinese: Let the Leaders Get the Vaccine First" on December 24. The article pointed out that the reason why the call of "Let the Leaders Vaccine First" has been widely responded to by Chinese society. There are doubts about the safety of the vaccine.

Second, because CCP officials hold power and face risks, officials naturally let the people face it first, so the vaccine is naturally let the people fight first. People are worried about the safety of the vaccine and they are afraid of becoming a test product for the vaccine, so they hope that officials will be vaccinated first.

The article said, why is there no question of "who gets the vaccine first" in the United States? It is because the safety of scientific research and production of American vaccines is guaranteed, which reassures the American people. New York nurse Sandra. Lindsay was the first person in the United States to be vaccinated with Pfizer. US Vice President Pence and his wife also took the lead in vaccinating Pfizer.

The Voice of America reported that there are reasons for the outside world to worry about China's vaccines. In recent years, China's frequent "toxin vaccine" scandals have made China's vaccines lack credibility.

Mr. Zhou, an Anhui resident, said: “If I were to be vaccinated, I would definitely not be the first one, because this vaccine is not yet reliable and needs to be internationally recognized.” The public is still unclear whether the vaccine produced in China is a virulent vaccine.

According to an analysis by the New York Times, from 2018 to 2020, there were 59 corruption lawsuits involving Chinese vaccine companies, of which 54 involved bribery of local Chinese officials. Weak supervision has led to many "viral vaccines" flowing into the market, such as the rabies vaccine produced by Changchun Changsheng Biological in 2018, and 145 infants and young children in Jinhu County, Jiangsu Province received expired vaccines in 2019.

The Associated Press reported on December 25 that although there is no obvious reason to suspect that China’s vaccines are not working, China has a history of vaccine scandals. China’s pharmaceutical factories have not announced the final results of human trials of the Chinese virus vaccine, but they are used more than 1 million times in the name of emergency in the country.

The Japan Times also pointed out that China’s rapid development of a Chinese virus vaccine raises questions about its safety and reliability. The standards and safety measures used by Chinese R&D personnel lack transparency, and vaccines have been sent to various places for emergency use without the approval of regulatory agencies.

In response to many doubts about China's vaccines from the outside world, Zhong Nanshan, an epidemic prevention expert of the Communist Party of China, said bluntly in an interview with CCTV reporters on December 30 that Chinese vaccines must also be prevented. He also said, will he get infected after the vaccine? no one knows.

The CCP’s Official Epidemic Prevention Notice: More spread of the epidemic will become the norm

Reporter : Zheng Gusheng / Editor: Yun Tao / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/30/a103021029.html / Direct translation

The CCP virus outbreak has broken out in many places in China, and it is difficult for the CCP to completely cover it up. The recent holiday epidemic prevention notice stated that "multiple distribution" of local epidemics will become the norm.

The National Health Commission of the Communist Party of China issued a notice on epidemic prevention during New Year's Day and Chinese New Year on the 30th. The content of the notice was mentioned at the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of the Communist Party of China that day.

Officials from the CDC of the National Health Commission said that in the context of accelerating the spread of the global epidemic, the local epidemic in China is spreading, spreading at multiple points, and even locally clustered, "this will become the norm."

The official epidemic prevention notice involves restricting private family gatherings, guiding migrant workers not to go home for the New Year, strictly controlling festival gathering activities and personnel movement, and strengthening transportation and epidemic prevention measures.

At present, there are outbreaks in Beijing, Shenyang, Dalian, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other places. Many of these cities have been closed again. In Jinzhou District of Dalian, due to the lack of food and material supplies in the blockade of the community, the online video of the residents of the community yelling "we want to eat" desperately went out.

However, governments at all levels of the Chinese Communist Party, as always, conceal the severity of the epidemic, and continue to throw away the pot.

Beijing officials recently announced that they had tested positive for the CCP virus in imported auto parts, and that the outbreak in Shunyi District came from a man who entered the city from Indonesia.

Variant viruses have strong transmission power. Why do many people have concerns about vaccines?

 Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

As the devastating 2020 that causes many people to lose money to the pandemic, election fraud and scams is about to pass, 2021 presents us with full of unknowns and uncertainties. StayGate wishes everyone a happy, safe and smooth new year despite unhappiness and challenges.

At the end of 2020, there are still big things going on. The global election in the United States has not ended. Many people are still watching the possibility of Trump's re-election. On the other side of the earth, variants of SARS-CoV-2 (CCP virus, covi) spread rapidly from Europe, casting a shadow on people and adding a little anxiety. While the first nurse in Singapore was vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech SARS-CoV-2 vaccine on 30 December 2020, the new UK strain of covi was found on a Singapore Airlines pilot that had returned to Singapore.

New virus variant cited for reason of complete lockdown

The British government announced on December 19 that a more infectious and more easily out of control variant of the CCP virus appeared in the UK. The new strain spreads 70% faster than the previous virus. As of the week of December 20, reports from all parts of the UK show that the number of cases increased by 51% from the previous week, and stricter lockdown measures were subsequently announced. More than half of new patients in the UK are now tested for covi.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said afterwards that the new variant has been "out of control" and everyone must be as careful as if they are infected with the virus.

The mutant virus has now spread to many countries including Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy. Many European countries, Canada, India, etc. have issued bans to the UK. South Africa has also discovered a new variant of the virus strain. Due to the surge in confirmed cases of infection, large-scale restrictions may continue until next year. People are talking about the new virus. About 40 countries have imposed travel bans on the United Kingdom.

The British Prime Minister originally said that imposing a lockdown order during Christmas is "inhumane", so he planned to give all British people a five-day reunion day from 23 to 27 December, allowing three families to gather indoors. But only 72 hours later, he changed his mind, the policy took a 180-degree turn, and the strict lockdown order was issued again.

Now, the number of people infected with the CCP virus in the world has exceeded 80 million, and it has increased by 20 million in the last month, which can be said to be a surge.

About the new covi mutation N501Y

The CCP virus is getting worse in terms of infectivity. What exactly happened?

The chief scientific adviser to the British government, Valance said, the virus strain was found in the southern part of the UK in September and then spread in the UK. Statistics in the United Kingdom in November showed that 28% of confirmed cases in London were from this variant virus. By mid-December, this number was close to two-thirds (62%).

So why not take action sooner? Because of the rapid spread of this new virus strain, it was only discovered by scientists late last week. At the time, British health officials were still debating whether the general public neglected the epidemic prevention or whether the covi was highly contagious that caused the rapid spread of the epidemic. Later, scientists further investigated and found that the infectivity of the new variant virus was significantly higher than that of other virus strains.

The new virus has 17 mutations. One of the important mutations is N501Y. This mutation allows the virus to enter cells more easily, and the virus content in patients infected with the new virus is higher, which may be more difficult to control. Today, about two-thirds of the cases in London are caused by it. However, there is no evidence that the new mutant virus will aggravate the disease or increase the fatality rate.

Will the mutant virus affect the vaccine effect?

As the United States began to promote vaccination, people's doubts about vaccines also followed.

Experts are still studying whether the vaccines now launched will become more effective or ineffective in dealing with variant viruses. Although health officials believe that the virus mutation will not affect the effectiveness of the vaccine, there is no official conclusion yet.

What is worrying is that the vaccines developed by Pfizer, Modena, Oxford, etc., which have been concerned by the outside world so far, are all against the spike protein of the virus to some extent, and the mutation of the virus also mainly occurred in the spike protein.  Professor Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology, said, “The virus may be evading the vaccine, and the first few steps have been taken. If we let it continue to add a few more mutations, we will start to be vigilant.”

Since the first outbreak in Wuhan, covi has mutated twice a month. If large-scale vaccination is carried out, it may also promote more mutations in covi. Although most experts believe that the newly developed vaccine can still fight against the new British variant virus, if the virus mutation can really make the existing vaccine ineffective, countries may have to continue to develop new vaccines as they did for flu confrontation.

Variations are not rare but elusive

Viral mutations are not uncommon. So far, experts have found thousands of variants of covi. However, most virus mutations have no effect on the infectivity of the virus and the severity of symptoms.

Gupta said that as early as April, Swedish researchers discovered a virus strain with two genetic mutations, which roughly doubled the infectivity of the virus. Approximately 6000 cases around the world are infected by this strain of the virus, most of which are concentrated in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Later, other variants of this virus strain appeared one after another. For example, some people were infected on mink farms in Denmark. Among the multiple mutations of the variant new coronavirus discovered in South Africa, there are also two genetic mutations seen in the past.

In addition to these two variants, the variant virus discovered in the UK this time has other variants, including variants of eight spinous proteins. This is called "variations under investigation" because the magnitude of the effects of these changes is currently unknown.

Unknowns and doubts caused by vaccines

In fact, many people are worried about vaccines. The true effectiveness of a vaccine also depends on the universality of the vaccine. If there are not enough people vaccinated, then its effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

The results of the covi vaccines during the clinical study are not much different from the conventional side effects of other vaccines, and they are currently safe but there are several factors we must consider. The vaccines have not yet been used on a large scale, and patients have been using the vaccines for a short period of time. It is unclear whether there will be long-term side effects.

However, the vaccines have only been used for about three months, and the long-term effects and side effects are not clear. The sample of the study population is not large enough.

The most important thing is that, theoretically, the mRNA used to make vaccines is messenger ribonucleic acid, which can pass through the cell membrane and enter the cytoplasm. It is also possible to pass through the nucleus membrane to enter the nucleus, thereby interfering with the cell's genetic material. According to the US Centers for Disease Control, the vaccine is currently safe and will actively pay attention to its safety. At the same time, it is very clear that the vaccine will not enter the nucleus and interfere with genetic material but whether the vaccines will have long-term and serious consequences is a topic worthy of everyone's continued attention.

Meanwhile, as we enter the new year, let's learn to be frugal during the pandemic, stop the hearts of greed and pray that good prevails against evil, and support everyone in dire straits.

Beijing rarely admits that the actual number of people infected with the epidemic in Wuhan may exceed the official ten times

Reporter : Li Yun / Editor: Li Quan / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/30/a103020830.html / Direct translation

As the CCP virus epidemic is heating up again, a study conducted by the CCP's public health department showed that the scale of the Wuhan epidemic at the beginning of the year may be nearly 10 times that of public data. This ratio indicates that Wuhan, with a population of approximately 11 million, may have as many as 500,000 people infected with the virus. But this data is still questioned by all parties.

Comprehensive media reported on December 30 that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a serum survey of more than 34,000 people in April, and about 4.4% of them were tested for virus antibodies, indicating that they had been infected.

The data was announced in the evening of December 28. This ratio indicates that among the 11 million people in Wuhan, as many as 500,000 residents may have been infected, which is nearly 10 times the 50,000 confirmed cases announced by the health department in mid-April.

The CCP received international criticism for initially concealing the epidemic. The United States has questioned the Wuhan infection data released by China. The revision of case and death data has made the outside world more suspicious that the CCP has falsified the data.

Analysts generally believe that the CCP’s figures are habitually falsified. Even if it is increased by 10 times, the CCP’s figures still involve serious underreporting.

The CCP virus is raging

After the outbreak of the Chinese Communist Party virus in Wuhan, Hubei Province at the end of 2019, the Wuhan Health and Health Commission reported three times from the end of the year to mid-January 2020 that it was "preventable and controllable, and no obvious human-to-human transmission was found."

Until January 20, Xi Jinping publicly gave instructions on the epidemic. That night, Zhong Nanshan, a CCP expert, admitted for the first time that the virus would be transmitted from person to person. But at this time the epidemic was completely out of control.

From late January to early March, it was the peak period of the epidemic in Wuhan. Hong Kong’s "China Human Rights and Democracy Movement Information Center" disclosed on March 23 that the CCP was falsifying data on CCP virus cases across the country.

The news revealed that many places did not send suspected patients to doctors, but isolated them in certain places, allowing them to "naturally recover" or "naturally die", and notify the local police station to bury the body in the mountain after death.

French Weekly Magazine stated on April 21 that data on infections and deaths from the epidemic in China have also been substantially deleted. The CCP only counts deaths in hospitals, and deaths at home are not counted. However, these dead people accounted for one-third of the newly revised statistics. Moreover, according to the CCP’s statistics, patients must simply die from the epidemic before they are counted. Other diseases are not counted.

Dr. Wang Weiluo, a scholar living in Germany, analyzed the data of the CCP’s "Direct Internet Reporting System for Infectious Diseases" and concluded that the statistics of the "Direct Internet Reporting System" alone are 25 times more cases than those announced by the CCP!

While concealing the epidemic and fabricating data, the CCP suppressed doctors and people who spread the truth about the epidemic, and colluded with the World Health Organization to cover up the truth of the epidemic to the world. Leading to a century-old plague that ravaged the world.

As of December 30, there have been more than 80 million confirmed cases worldwide and nearly 2 million deaths.

However, up to now, the CCP is still concealing the truth about the epidemic, and it is pursuing citizen journalists and citizens who released the truth about the epidemic.

Shanghai citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was sentenced to 4 years by the CCP for reporting on the Wuhan epidemic on December 28; volunteers on the "Endpoint Star" website Chen Mei and Cai Wei are also facing court trial for spreading news of the epidemic, and their situation is worse than Zhang Zhan Bad.

Another is a Wuhan citizen reporter Fang Bin. He visited Wuhan Fifth Hospital in early February. Within 5 minutes, the hospital moved 8 corpses and caused a sensation. Afterwards, Fang Bin was taken away by the police and there has been no news.

Trump Team wants to present evidences of fraud on 6 January 2021

Reporter : Jack Philipps / Publisher : The Epoch Times

 

President Donald Trump’s campaign adviser said the team is aiming to present evidence during a potential congressional debate on Jan. 6 if lawmakers in the House and Senate object to states’ Electoral College votes.

As of Wednesday, it appears that at least one member of the Senate, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and a number of House lawmakers will object to the electoral votes during the Joint Session of Congress. Hawley announced he would object to the electoral vote, pointing to previous Democratic efforts to do so during the 2004 and 2016 presidential elections. After the objection, an hours-long debate will occur.

Miller said that evidence could be presented in Congress, which would differ from what the Trump campaign presented in courts over the past several weeks.

“We will have a chance in front of the American people, next week to present these cases, all these evidences of fraud,” Miller told Newsmax, pointing to a lawsuit filed by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) against Vice President Mike Pence earlier this week to prevent him from confirming Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Miller told the outlet that the 1887 Electoral Count Act allows the vice president, who is the president of the Senate, to preside over the Joint Session of Congress.

Then, Miller told Newsmax that he hopes at least one senator and representative join together to object to the Electoral College vote, allowing for two hours of debate.

Should that happen, Miller said President Donald Trump’s team is seeking to present alleged evidence of voter fraud or irregularities in the November 3 election, including law changes regarding mail-in ballots in Wisconsin, “suitcases of ballots” in Georgia being wheeled out late at night on Nov. 3 in Atlanta’s State Farm Center, and being blocked in Arizona and Michigan from inspecting voting systems, alleging that ballots were counted several times.

“These are the specific types of evidence we want to present to the American people on the national stage and not allow local politicians to sweep it under the rug,” Miller said.

Weeks ago, Trump’s team led by Rudy Giuliani presented a surveillance video from the State Farm Center that showed suitcase-like boxes being wheeled from under a table. It came after election officials allegedly told other workers and poll observers that counting was done for the night.

The Georgia GOP said they received conflicting and incorrect answers and statements from Fulton County officials about what happened on Election Night, and officials later acknowledged that vote-counting went on until the early-morning hours. State election officials, in response to the video, said nothing unusual occurred with the ballot boxes and vote-tabulation process in Fulton County.

Elaborating on Wisconsin, he said, “Article II of the Constitution makes it very clear, the state legislatures, and state legislatures alone, set up the voting systems for each state, the codes and the way they are conducted.” He said, “And what we have here is we have over 20,000 ballots that were cast without actually having an application on file, the mail ballots. Wisconsin’s very clear, very specific you got to have an application on file.”

Power of Vice President to Count or Reject Electoral Votes Disputed

Analysis : Petr Svab / Publisher : The Epoch Times

At 1 pm local time on January 6, members of Congress will gather in the chamber of the House of Representatives to observe the formal certification of Electoral College votes for president of the United States.

While it is usually a formality, nothing has been usual so far about this year’s election amid numerous allegations of voter fraud in key swing states.

The situation is complicated by a lack of clarity on the legal and constitutional guardrails for the process. The joint session of Congress may well result in gridlock, in which a clear winner of the race is not announced at all.

Based on current election results, former Vice President Joe Biden has received 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232 votes. Meanwhile, Republicans in seven states where Biden claimed victory have sent their own sets of electoral votes to Washington, and some members of the House have indicated that they will object to Biden electors in some states. Any objection would require support from one House member and one senator to be considered, and at least one senator has has left open the possibility he would join the effort.

So what will happen?

The counting of votes is primarily governed by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution and the amended Electoral Count Act.

The Constitution simply states that electors of each state have to meet, make a list of their votes, “which they shall sign and certify,” and send those to the president of the Senate, meaning Vice President Mike Pence.

“The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted,” the 1804 amendment says.

The Electoral Count Act of 1887, currently known as 3 U.S. Code Section 15, establishes a procedure for how the votes are counted, how to raise objections, and how to resolve disputes. First, it says that the vice president indeed presides over the proceedings. Then, it says the House and Senate leaders each designate two tellers. The VP opens the envelopes with the vote certificates and hands them to the tellers for counting. The tellers then read them out loud, count them, and hand them back to the VP to announce the results.

Then, in rather convoluted language, the law says that Congress members can object. At least one objection from each chamber is needed to trigger a separate vote by both House and Senate on the objections. If both chambers agree, the objected voters are rejected. That’s virtually out of the question given the Democrats’ majority in the House.

If two sets of electors are presented for counting, the House and Senate need to separately vote on which set is legitimate and which should be rejected. If each chamber votes differently, the set certified by the state’s governor should count. That would hand the victory to Biden.

The problem is, there’s a voluminous body of legal analysis arguing that the Electoral Count Act is unconstitutional. Congress has no business granting itself the authority to decide which slate of electors is the correct one and which votes should be rejected. Nor does Congress have the power to designate state governors as the final arbiters, a lineup of legislators and legal scholars have argued.

There are two arguments for who has the constitutional power to decide which electors to choose.

Some jurists say it’s the VP who has the sole discretion to decide which votes to count. The argument is that the framers intended for the VP to be the sole authority over the counting of the votes because the unanimous resolution attached to the Constitution said that the Senate should appoint its President “for the sole Purpose of receiving, opening, and counting the Votes for President.”

Moreover, before the adoption of the Electoral Count Act, it was always the VP counting the votes, sometimes despite major objections from Congress. Thomas Jefferson did so as the VP in the 1800 election, counting Georgia’s constitutionally deficient votes and de facto securing his own presidency.

Arizona state lawmakers and GOP electors, together with Rep. Louie Gohmert, have filed a federal suit asking for the court to clarify the law to the effect that the Electoral Count Act is unconstitutional and the VP’s power is paramount.

Not everybody agrees, though.

University of Virginia professsor John Harrison, an expert on constitutional history, says the VP doesn’t have “any constitutional power to make decisions” over which votes to count.

He argued that the law is deficient to the effect that “Congress doesn’t have the power to make the announcement [of its decisions regarding the vote count] conclusive.” But that doesn’t mean it can’t prescribe any rules at all.

“The Constitution does call for counting the votes with both houses present, so I think that setting up procedures for a count is within Congress’s power,” he told The Epoch Times via email.

The second argument is that the Constitution grants the authority to determine how electors are picked to state legislatures. As such, any disputes over which votes should be counted should be resolved by state legislatures.

The problem is, state legislatures are not in session and they cannot assemble in a special session without a call from the governors, who have refused to do so. Meanwhile, the legislatures have usually delegated the power to certify electors to the Governors and Secretaries of State, undermining their own authority on the matter.

The conservative Amistad Project of the Thomas More Society has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the power of the legislatures is both “exclusive and non-delegable,” and thus any state and federal statutes to the contrary are unconstitutional and void.

That would not only knock down some provisions of the Electoral Count Act, but also render electoral votes that have not been certified post-election by state legislatures illegitimate.

Regardless of what the courts will say, the core question is what will take place in the House chambers on January 6? Will Pence refuse to follow the Electoral Count Act? Will some of the tellers dissent? If things go wrong for the Democrats, will House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) try to end the session prematurely?

There is no way to tell. Pence has not let his intentions be known.