House China Committee Demands California City Cough Up Docs About Illegal Chinese-Owned Biolab

09.13.2023

A House committee recently demanded a California city hand over documents related to the discovery of an illegal China-linked biolab housing infectious agents, according to a committee spokesperson.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) issued a subpoena to the City of Reedley, California, last week, requesting documents and records related to the city’s investigation into the “unlicensed” laboratory operated by Prestige Biotech Inc. (PBI), the successor of defunct Universal Meditech Inc. (UMI), a committee spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation, confirming Politico’s report. In mid-June, officials from Fresno County began removing medical waste from the Reedley laboratory after inspectors discovered at least 20 potentially infectious agents, such as Malaria and Dengue virus, on the property, according to Fresno County court records.

“The review of the evidence thus far has identified troubling gaps in safeguards that allowed the clandestine facility to operate with impunity, as well as serious deficiencies in the federal government’s response,” a person close to the committee said after Reedley handed over documents, photographs and video, according to Politico.

PBI and UMI have operated an “unlicensed and unregulated” lab in Reedley since October 2022, court documents show.

Beginning in December 2022, officials attempted to make contact with the lab workers, but were unsuccessful until March 2023, when an official observed a garden hose illegally attached to the building as well as other code violations and ordered for the site to be inspected, according to court records.

Officials then began a series of on-site inspections and conducted an abatement process between April and June, during which they discovered “unsafe and unsanitary conditions” as well as mice genetically engineered to catch and carry COVID-19, court records state.

Officials also discovered improperly stored blood, bodily fluids, human and animal tissue as well as at least 20 infectious agents including E. coli, tuberculosis, streptococcus, hepatitis, HIV and Rubella, according to court records.

The DCNF subsequently reported that certain PBI and UMI executives appear to share the same names and addresses with one of the lab’s pharmaceutical suppliers located at a CCP-backed industrial park in Qingdao, China.

The Qingdao High-Tech Industrial Park, where the lab’s pharmaceutical suppliers are located, is run by Li Tianchuan, a CCP member, according to the Chinese government.

The DCNF found business filings on Chinese website Qixin.com showing that UMI’s CEO and PBI’s managing member, Wang Zhaoyan, has the same name as the executive director of Ai De Biopharmaceutical in Qingdao. Likewise, PBI’s president, Yao Xiuqin, shares the same name with Ai De Biopharmaceutical’s supervisor, filings on Qixin.com reveal.

Furthermore, the DCNF reported that the address for PBI’s president Yao Xiuqin that PBI’s representative, David He, gave to investigators closely resembles the address for Ai De Diagnostic Co. Ltd in Qingdao.

Court documents reveal that Joe Prado, Fresno County Public Health Department assistant director, wrote to He in June 2023, claiming that the addresses He had provided for the lab’s “authorized agents” were “either empty offices or addresses in China that could not be verified.”

The DCNF also identified a series of shipments that Ai De Biopharmaceutical, Ai De Diagnostic and Qingdao Guangdi Packaging Material Co. Ltd. — which also shares the same Qingdao address — sent to UMI and PBI between 2016 and 2023.

Reedley did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s request for comment.

https://dcenquirer.com/house-china-committee-demands-california-city-cough-up-docs-about-illegal-chinese-owned-biolab

Kemp suspends Georgia gas tax, declares state of emergency over inflation

September 12, 2023 9:29AM

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency and temporarily suspended the state's tax on gasoline in an effort to reduce the impact of inflation.

In a press release Tuesday, Kemp claimed that his actions were in response to policies coming at the federal level, saying that President Joe Biden has caused Georgians to feel the brunt of negative economic conditions,

"While high prices continue to hit family budgets, hardworking Georgians deserve real relief and that's why I signed an executive order today to deliver it directly to them at the pump," Kemp said.

The executive order will go into effect Wednesday and continue through Oct. 12.

Officials estimate the suspension of the tax will save Georgians around 31 cents per gallon of gasoline and 35 cents per gallon of diesel fuel. But Kendra Cray says she still feels the pain at the pump. "It’s about $45 to fill up my car," Cray said. "It hurts a lot."

"I applaud Gov. Kemp’s suspension of motor fuel taxes to keep our people and our economy moving despite Washington’s inaction on rising fuel prices," said Georgia Speaker of the House Jon Burns.

Danny Kanso, senior fiscal analyst and director of legislative strategy at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, estimates suspending the gas tax could save money for Georgia drivers but cost the state as much as $180 million a month.

"A good chunk of that will go to consumer," said Kanso "It almost certainly will reduce state tax collections by about that amount per month."

The state can absorb the hit from the lost revenue because of a budget surplus. "Right now the state has about $16-billion cash on hand," Kanso said.

The gas tax is reserved exclusively for infrastructure like roads and transportation. The state can backfill lost revenue from gas taxes with money from the surplus. But Kanso says that could come at a cost to other programs. "And that means less money available for things like education, healthcare, core functions of government that make up most of what the state does," Kanso said. "It could go to a long-term investment like a school bus, or it could go to a short-term suspension of the gas tax."

Kemp previously suspended the state's gas tax in March 2022 and extended the suspension for 10 months.

Georgia’s gasoline price normally includes a federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon and a state tax of 29.1 cents per gallon. A number of counties and the city of Atlanta also charge taxes. Federal taxes on diesel fuel are 24.4 cents per gallon, while Georgia’s tax on diesel is 32.6 cents per gallon.

As of Tuesday, AAA reports that the average price for a gallon of gas in Georgia is $3.57 - six more cents than Monday, around 6 cents less than the same time in August, and around 33 more cents than in 2022.

Georgia's fuel price remains lower than the national average of $3.83 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas.

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/kemp-suspends-georgia-gas-tax-state-emergency-inflation

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