Thursday, March 5, 2020

Xi Jinping "personally" requested experts to investigate the source of SARS-CoV-2

Reporter : He Yating
Editor : Ming Xuan
Publisher : New Tang Dynasty Television
Ref : https://www.ntdtv.com/b5/2020/03/04/a102791892.html
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                 / KUCINTA SETIA

Medical staff wearing protective clothing in Wuhan are transferring patients diagnosed with COVID-19  from Wuhan Third Hospital to Huoshenshan Hospital on 4 March 2020. (STR / AFP via Getty Images)

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping put on a mask and went to the Military Medical Research Institute in Beijing to inspect the research progress of the prevention and control of the spread of COVID-19. He also went to the Tsinghua University Medical Research Institute to hear reports on the development of testing equipment and vaccines, and expressed his encouragement to scientific researchers.  This is the second time Xi has appeared at the epidemic prevention site after visiting a hospital and residential centre in Beijing on 10 February 2020.

At a symposium held by the Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Xi raised the need to use artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technology to identify the 'ins and outs' of SARS-CoV-2 (covi, in short). Some South Korean media have said that Xi made this statement after the China Communist Party(CCP)  has repeatedly raised the argument that "the birthplace of covi may not be in China." This may mean that Beijing wants to escape the responsibility of the covid outbreak. 

Speaking on infectious diseases and other issues at a symposium held by the Tsinghua University Medical Institute, Xi Jinping said, "This is a major challenge related to national security, development and social stability. Comprehensive planning should be formulated to conduct research and analysis on suspicious animals that may be intermediate hosts of the virus and using artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technologies to pinpoint the evolution and origins of the virus. "

He also emphasized that scientific research on the prevention and control of covid should be carried out as a "significant and urgent task". Through scientific research to see the "face" of the virus, researchers should find the right "prescription" and follow the "path" to prevention and treatment and so on.

In response, the South Korean media "Korea Daily" published an analysis mentioning that "Xi Jinping's speech was made after China successively claimed that 'the origin of covi may not be in China', and the statement is expected to ignite controversy over the origin of the virus. "

In fact, after covid was first discovered in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in early December 2019, the CCP officials tried to conceal the epidemic during the initial period, leading to a large-scale outbreak in Wuhan in late January of this year and quickly spreading to provinces across the country, dozens of countries and regions around the world, causing extremely serious consequences.

In the face of increasing waves of accountability, the CCP's official attempted to determine the source of the virus as wild animals from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan before gradually changing to their opinions “there may be more than one source”, and lately “ The origin of covi may not be Wuhan "or" the source of the virus is not in China".


Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, took the lead in a press conference on 27 February, saying, "(Covi) first appeared in China, but it does not necessarily originate in China." This statement is considered to be "speak out for purpose". Later, the CCP’s mouthpiece media, Global Times, stated that "the origin of covi is still uncertain and should not be stigmatized." At the same time, a large number of  CCP's  online media army have also continuously spread unfounded rumours in the online community such as "Americans (or Japanese) poisoning in China" or "The flu in the United States this year is the covid epidemic."

At a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China on 4 March, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China, reiterated Zhong Nanshan's remarks and emphasized two points when answering questions from media reporters on covid: Firstly, the virus traceability work is still in progress, and there is no conclusive conclusion. Secondly, it opposes "information viruses" and "political viruses." He accused some of the media of calling the covid a "Chinese virus" as "an attempt to put China on the back of a panacea that creates an epidemic."

Regarding the changes in the CCP's official rhetoric, not only the South Korean media believes that Beijing wants to shirk responsibility, but many Chinese netizens on overseas online social platforms have also highly suspected the CCP is "throwing the pot" from the central and local governments to other countries' governments.

Netizen Fyuanster commented in a related report, "No matter how many people in other countries die, no country has been destroyed by this virus, and no medical workers have fallen in their countries. China cannot quibble on this fact."

Netizen BUPT questiond CCP, "What about bats and civets? Why are you in a hurry to shake the pot?"

And so on.

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Pictures copyright by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA