Coronavirus looks like an op V CCP

"If You Are Angry, Stand Up": Beijing Scrambles To Tamp Down Unrest As Furious Chinese Take To Social Media

Summary:

Fatalities in China reached a single-day high of 86 on Friday, raising the national death toll to 724

WHO reported 31,481 confirmed global cases on Friday, up by 3,000+ cases from Thursday; SCMP says total cases closer to 35k

First American citizen has died

First Japanese citizen suspected of succumbing to virus

France elevates travel advisory to orange after 5 Britons fall ill in ski resort

Roundup of suspected infected in Wuhan continues

Beijing appoints Xi protege to help lead virus response

Vigil for Dr. Li held in Hong Kong

China blocks Foxconn plan to reopen factories

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Update (1500ET): The NYT just published its latest critical piece about the Chinese government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. This one centers on President Xi's decision to stay out of the limelight over the past two weeks, instead leaving the crisis to his No. 2, Premier Li Keqiang, who has been charged with leading the committee of senior officials tasked with overseeing the government response to the outbreak.

One academic quoted in the article explains that the government's botched handling of the outbreak could be the biggest threat to Xi's rule during his tenure so far, and that the changes he's imposed on the Chinese constitution could make it difficult for Xi to avoid blame.

"It’s a big shock to the legitimacy of the ruling party. I think it could be only second to the June 4 incident of 1989. It’s that big," said Rong Jian, a writer about politics in Beijing, referring to the armed crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters that year.

"There’s no doubt about his control over power," he added, "but the manner of control and its consequences have hurt his legitimacy and reputation."

Meanwhile, three more cases of nCoV have been confirmed aboard the 'Diamond Princess', the Carnival-owned cruise ship currently under quarantine in Yokohama. Three more individuals have tested positive, bringing the number aboard to 64, the government said Saturday. All passengers are facing a two-week quarantine.

In China, much of the population has ordered to stay home, with only limited runs for essential supplies allowed. Factories will remain closed for at least another week or so, and airlines have cut service. JPM recently warned that the economic impact could drive China's economy to a standstill. Here's the latest update on how China's tourism industry is dealing with the fallout.

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https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/first-american-citizen-dies-coronavirus-wuhan-5-britons-diagnosed-french-ski-town

SYRIA UPDATE

Army units advancing from Aleppo countryside meet units advancing from Idleb southeastern countryside at al-Eiss hill – PHOTOS

https://www.sana.sy/en/?p=184742

Russia, Turkey to continue talks on Idlib next week - Turkish Foreign Ministry

"At the talks, the delegations discussed the situation in Idlib. In focus were the steps that are likely to be taken to ensure truce on the ground and to promote the political process. A decision was taken to continue the talks next week," the foreign ministry said.

https://tass.com/world/1118023

Military Situation In Idlib Province Following Liberation Of Al-Eis (Map Update)

https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-idlib-province-following-liberation-of-al-eis-map-update/

Counter Attack West of Saraqeb: Car Bomb and Missiles Fall on Assad Forces Positions

A number of rebel groups on Thursday launched a counter attack against the forces of the Assad regime, Russia and Iran, advancing in eastern Idleb province. The attack began with a car bomb attack and then was followed by launching missiles on al-Nayrab village, to which the attacking forces advanced two days ago and lies west of Saraqeb and east of Idleb city.

https://syrianobserver.com/EN/news/55906/counter-attack-west-of-saraqeb-car-bomb-and-missiles-fall-on-assad-forces-positions.html

Syrian Army Advances Along M5 Highway, Captures Two Towns

On February 8, the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) and the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) resumed their combat operations in northwest Syria, targeting militants’ positions in Idlib and Aleppo.

https://southfront.org/syrian-russian-warplanes-resume-airstrikes-on-militants-positions-in-idlib-and-aleppo/

Syrian Army Advances Along M5 Highway, Captures Two Towns

Army units captured the town of Tell Hadiyah in the southwestern Aleppo countryside and the town of Talhiyah in the southeastern countryside of Idlib. Tell Hadiyah is located south of the M5, while Talhiyah is located north of it.

Earlier, the SAA liberated the town of al-Eis that was one of the main targets of the ongoing military operation. From the town’s high hilltop, the army imposed fire control of a long strip of the M5 highway.

The SAA will likely capture more areas along the M5 in the upcoming few hours. Syrian and Russian warplanes are now providing army troops with close air support, once again.

https://southfront.org/syrian-army-advances-along-m5-highway-captures-two-towns/

Stonghold Of Idlib. Prospects Of Syrian Army Operation To Capture Idlib City

In February 2020, the Syrian Army reached the vicinity of the main stronghold of anti-government forces in Syria, the city of Idlib. This development plunged into shock supporters and the leadership of Idlib armed groups and became a visual confirmation of something that Western powers and their media structures do not want to admit. The government of President Bashar al-Assad not only survived the 9 years of the bloody war but also appeared on the winning side.

The Syrian Army currently has two main priorities:

To secure the entire M5 highway, which links the cities of Hama and Aleppo. This will allow government forces to freely redeploy troops and equipment just along the current frontline. Thus, they will have an additional advantage in maneuverability;

To increase pressure on the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham hive, Idlib city, which is now located in about 8km from the active frontline. This is an unprecedented situation, which had not happened since 2015. All the previous year the city remained in a permanent safety from any ground offensive by government forces. So, its current rulers did not bother itself with creating strong fortifications. The same approach explains why the speed of the Syrian Army’s offensive increased after it had passed the main defense line of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies near Khan Shaykhun.

https://southfront.org/stonghold-of-idlib-prospects-of-syrian-army-operation-to-capture-idlib-city/

Israel begins mapping out West Bank land for annexation after election

Netanyahu: “We’ve been waiting since 1967, and people are making a big deal over a few weeks.”

Israel has begun preparing a precise map of the parts of the West Bank it will annex in accordance with the new US peace plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday.

“We are in the middle of the process of mapping out the territory that will be part of Israel according to the Trump plan,” Netanyahu said at a Likud event in Ma’aleh Adumim. “It won’t take much time… Within a few weeks, it will happen.”

Ronen Peretz, director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, will head the Israeli side of the committee, a source in the office said.

An American diplomatic source said: “We are in close conversations with the Netanyahu administration.”

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump presented his peace plan, by which the US will approve of Israel annexing some 30% of the West Bank, including all settlements and the Jordan Valley, as well as not expanding construction beyond that area, while being ready to recognize a Palestinian state in the rest of the West Bank.

That state would be demilitarized, could no longer pay terrorists a monthly salary and would have to be democratic and provide its citizens with basic civil rights, according to the Trump plan.

Immediately after the plan’s presentation, Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank within a matter of days and the rest of the 30% at a later time. His plan soon changed to a one-step annexation after the March 2 election, in light of comments by special adviser to the US president Jared Kushner that the map included in the Trump plan was a “conceptual” one and that the specific border would have to be delineated by a joint US-Israel committee.

Netanyahu said of the delay: “It’s 800 square kilometers. It’s a lot of land… We’ve been waiting since 1967, and people are making a big deal over a few weeks. It will happen.”

He added that, “Trump will do it: I trust him completely.”

The prime minister’s speech was replete with digs at Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, including that he won’t be able to annex the territory.

The upcoming election is a referendum of sovereignty, Netanyahu said.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-begins-mapping-out-West-Bank-land-for-annexation-after-election-616961

Chinese Citizen Journalist Disappears In China: Gordon Chang Warns of Virus Origin

This week someone I know – who travels to China frequently – sent me a video of Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist Chen Qiushi, who compiled a video of the situation in Wuhan, China of the coronavirus outbreak.

Qiushi apparently — and I say apparently because I cannot independently verify Qiushi’s statements in the video — was doing citizen journalism to warn the outside world about the disastrous situation faced by China’s disorganization and failure in quelling the outbreak of the virus.

According to multiple sources Qiushi has now disappeared. Social media statements coming out of China, sources in the region and Bloomberg has since reported his disappearance. However, it is uncertain if he is in hiding or if he has been located by the Chinese government and taken into custody for his reports. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and WeChat have been some of the only outlets for the people of China to get the truth out about the outbreak and how it’s being handled by the communist government.

On The Sara Carter Show, I interviewed Gordon Chang, who lived in China for roughly 20 years and is the author of the book “The Coming Collapse of China.” Gordon, who is a renowned expert on the Far East, told me that China has manipulated the actual number of infections and deaths related to the Wuhan virus, created a propaganda campaign to blame the United States for the outbreak and has blocked journalists from reporting the facts about the outbreak. SaraACarter.com is continuously publishing news updates of the coronavirus outbreak with the latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University map tracker.

The Wuhan Coronavirus has been designated a global health emergency by the World Health Organization and medical experts believe it is only a matter of time before the WHO and CDC designate it a global pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins there are 34,963 people infected with the virus and 725 deaths. Remember, the situation is fluid and the numbers change by the hour and the day.

“The Chinese people right now are completely focused in on trying to save themselves, but when this disease passes and this could be June or July, we’re gonna see the recriminations dominate the narrative in China,” said Chang on Thursday’s podcast. “Already we had a longtime critic Xinhua University in Beijing come out and call for Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, to step down and I think that shows that people right now are bold and they’re bold because they know that so many people support them. And when people lose their fear, and that’s exactly what’s occurring right now, then governments can change.”

https://saraacarter.com/chinese-citizen-journalist-disappears-in-china-gordon-chang-warns-of-virus-origin/

Who Can NOW Say America Hasn’t Become a Mega-Corporate Dictatorship?

Jon Hellevig posted on January 16th at The Saker, “Capitalism in America: How a Dismal Decimal is Robbing Americans Blind” the most extensive and up-to-date compendium anywhere, of data on economic inequality in America, and one fact especially stands out from it: “Today Top 1% are losers compared with Top 0.1% – the Dismal Decimal – who are where the music plays. Top 0.1% now holds as much wealth as Bottom 90% combined.” These top 0.1% people also donate the lions’ share of the money that finances political ads and organizations for their candidates and against the candidates who are financed instead by the other Party’s billionaires. Any candidate who isn’t backed by the billionaires of any Party is a rarity and (except for the independent Bernie Sanders, who is truly an exception) has no realistic chance of winning or keeping a seat in Congress.

That drastic inequality of wealth in America — “Top 0.1% now holds as much wealth as Bottom 90% combined” — is calculated by Deutsche Bank, in their January 2018 study “U.S. Income and Wealth Inequality”. Here’s more from that study:

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On page 3 is shown that U.S. is comparable to Chile, Israel, Mexico, Portugal, and Turkey, as being at the top of the nations studied, in “inequality in household disposable income.”

On page 6: “A record high 30% of households have no wealth” in the United States.

On page 7: All-time high median net worth in constant dollars was 2007, at $119,000, declined to $67,000 in 2010, and rose to $78,000 by 2016.

On page 8: “U.S.: Top 0.1% owns as many assets as the bottom 90%”

On page 10: U.S. has higher income-inequality than any other OECD nation.

On page 11: Income-inequality is rising faster in U.S. than any other OECD nation.

On page 15: Top 1% in pre-tax income in the U.S. in 2014 was $1.3 million+.

Top 0.1% was $6 million+.

So: if the top 0.1% in income in America are also the top 0.1% in wealth in America, then the individuals in America who draw $6 million+ annual income own as much as do all 90% who aren’t in the top 10%.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/02/08/who-can-now-say-america-hasnt-become-mega-corporate-dictatorship/