Sorry to mix metaphors and cultural traditions. Yes, Kabuki is Japanese in origin but the Kabuki dance now playing out between Beijing and Washington is an apt description of the political posturing each side is performing. Apart from the complaints from both Chinese leaders and U.S. politicians in which each side blames the other for the outbreak and spread of Corona, there is a curious mix of posturing and actions that are sending mixed messages and clouding the simple, horrible truth--the global spread of Corona 19 was a deliberate, conscious act by the Chinese Communist government to weaken the West, especially the United States. But there is another part of the story that has received little attention from the media and most pundits--the US Government, with DOJ leading the charge, is going after some very intriguing Chinese intelligence operatives.
More about that later, let's focus first on the growing body of evidence that the launch of Corona from Wuhan was not the result of eating rotten bats or an accident at the level 4 bio lab in Wuhan. Instead of recruiting fanatics to wear suicide bomb belts, the Chinese Government appears to had chosen to infect its own citizens and send them out to major population centers in the West. It was a conscious plan to infect and weaken the West.
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that China chafed under the Western world's support for student protesters in Hong Kong and Donald Trump's aggressive campaign to punish China for unfair trade practices. It is no mere coincidence that the emergence of the virus in Wuhan barely spread into other parts of China. Beijing and Shanghai dwarf New York City in terms of populating size and concentration, yet the Chinese urban behemoths escaped unscathed. Not so New York and other major western countries, such as Italy, the UK and Spain--all have experienced major disruptions and pain as a result of the virus bomb set off in those nations.
If you have not seen the following two videos they are worth your time and consideration:
There were some fascinating developments in December and January in Boston involving Chinese nationals and a U.S. citizen who got paid a lot of money to help China advance in the field of nano biology.
Let's start with Zaosong Zheng. Here is the DOJ press release:
Zaosong Zheng, 30, a Chinese national, was arrested on Dec. 10, 2019, at Boston’s Logan International Airport and charged by criminal complaint with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China. On Jan. 21, 2020, Zheng was indicted on one count of smuggling goods from the United States and one count of making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements. He has been detained since Dec. 30, 2019.
Biological research? What kind? What would you say if I told you that at least one of the vials contained Corona 19? Would that change your mind? The complaint against Zaosong Zheng contains some tantalizing clues. Take a look at the FBI Agent who swore out the affidavit--Special Agent Karen D Spice. She has worked as a hazardous materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) forensic evidence specialist for the FBI since 2006.
The FBI is not telling the full story. Here's the official party line--the U.S. Government just happened to discover the vials. Lucky coincidence, huh?
On Monday, December 9, 2019, CBP Agriculture Specialists assigned to Boston Logan International Airport identified ZHENG, a researcher who was scheduled to depart Boston bound for Beijing, China on Hainan Airlines (HU) flight 482, as a high risk for possibly exporting undeclared biological material.
As a result, CBP officers went to the Hainan bag room where they were able to locate two checked bags in ZHENG’s name. The checked bags were physically examined. The examination resulted in the discovery of twenty one (21) vials wrapped in a plastic bag and concealed in a sock. The vials were visually inspected and appeared to contain a brown liquid with both typed and handwritten descriptions and notes. Based upon my experience and training and discussions with agents working on this matter, these vials contained what appeared to be biological materials that were not properly declared or packaged for transportation in a commercial aircraft.
The decision to take a close look at Zheng was not just because a CBP officer had a hunch. It is highly likely that Zheng had been under surveillance, probably including electronic surveillance of his communications. This was not just an accidental discovery.
The same DOJ Press Release also focuses on Yanqinq Ye. According to the DOJ:
Ye is a Lieutenant of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China and member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On her J-1 visa application, Ye falsely identified herself as a “student” and lied about her ongoing military service at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), a top military academy directed by the CCP.
In other words, a military spy for China. And Logan Airport once again is espionage central:
On April 20, 2019, federal officers interviewed Ye at Boston’s Logan International Airport. During the interview, it is alleged that Ye falsely claimed that she had minimal contact with two NUDT professors who were high-ranking PLA officers. However, a search of Ye’s electronic devices demonstrated that at the direction of one NUDT professor, who was a PLA Colonel, Ye had accessed U.S. military websites, researched U.S. military projects and compiled information for the PLA on two U.S. scientists with expertise in robotics and computer science. Furthermore, a review of a WeChat conversation revealed that Ye and the other PLA official from NUDT were collaborating on a research paper about a risk assessment model designed to decipher data for military applications. During the interview, Ye admitted that she held the rank of Lieutenant in the PLA and admitted she was a member of the CCP.
Ask yourself again, "Why did federal officers decide to interview Ye?" Just a spur of the moment hunch? Not likely. I believe this shows there is a pretty substantial counter intelligence operation by the FBI going after Chinese targets.
The star of the DOJ press release is an American citizen, Dr. Charles Lieber of Harvard University. Robert Willman has written a fine piece here at SST and I encourage you to read it if you missed it the first go round. What I find striking about the Lieber case is that his indictment focuses on activities between 2010 and 2015. Nothing recent. But the revelations of the vast amounts of money he was collecting from the Chinese ($600,000 a year) is jaw dropping.
Like it or not we are a war with China. China is not our friend. It is an adversary keen on destroying America's place as the world's economic leader. It is not just a Corona attack. The Chinese Government is invested heavily in helping the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels produce and distribute synthetic narcotics, such as fentanyl, in the United States. China remains the world leader in product counterfeiting, which covers products from the most mundane consumer items to our most sophisticated technologies. The Chinese also have been in the forefront of using straw buyers to purchase luxury automobiles, such as Mercedes and BMW, in the United States and then ship them covertly to China to be sold on lots owned by relatives of Senior Chinese Government officials.
China is engaged in a massive criminal and intelligence war on our country. I suppose the one silver lining of the Corona virus is that it has awakened many previously somnambulist Americans to this threat. Will we do anything or will we quietly march into the graveyard of history?
Whether they did it intentionally or passively intentionally through their disgusting cultural/living habits, they need to pay. The jihadists killed 2000 sum odd investment bankers on 9/11 and got the core of their whole region wrecked for generations with millions of deaths in return, and these people that suffered weren't even responsible. The Chinese are killing tens of thousands and causing irreparable harm to US/Western society and they are getting away with it under our noses. Americans should be baying for Chinese blood right now like they were for the Arabs after 9/11. But all I hear are virtue signalling entreaties to remember not to be racist against our yellow brothers. I guess an important ingredient is missing for us to see clearly: the Jewish ingredient
Posted by: Serge | 14 April 2020 at 06:59 PM
anon,
"The viruses came from..." Which is why the 'wet markets' are open again? We'd sure hate to see Chinese communist virology labs lose access to bats to extract viruses for genetic engineering now wouldn't we?
Posted by: Fred | 14 April 2020 at 08:07 PM
Thanks JJackson and Eric New Hill for your comments.
The mutation explanation would strongly argue against the layman perception that "if US has all 5 strains, then the COVID-19 virus must have come from US".
Posted by: TonyL | 14 April 2020 at 10:37 PM
Serge
"The jihadists killed 2000 sum odd investment bankers on 9/11 and got the core of their whole region wrecked for generations with millions of deaths in return, and these people that suffered weren't even responsible." The key part of this sentence is "and these people that suffered weren't even responsible." Lets try and not repeat the mistake of attacking the wrong target again. There is NO evidence that any human was involved in this zoonotic event, either American, Afghani or Chinese.
Posted by: JJackson | 15 April 2020 at 03:24 AM
I am unconvinced for the following reasons:
1: Chinese spy everywhere, all the time, whereever they can easily get in and easily get out. Western Universities are simply very easy and lucrative (in terms of knowledge gained) targets. Money legally bypasses a lot of security concerns (it would also do so in Russia, but not legally, a foreign power seeking to spy on Russia would need to utilize pre compromised beurocrats and personell to "insert their people", and these are a finite resource. In the west, university staff which let probably agents pass by due to full tuition do so legally for the most part), and such money transfers dont even have to be hidden.
All that is neccessary is outfitting a reasonably bright patriotic Chinese agent with a different identity (very easy task for China). If this original Chinese agent never was abroad, no other government knows of him anyway.
Economic/scientific espionage is the normal between states (even between nominally allied states, as the massive US spying on European states shows), especially between sovereign states with competing interests such as the USA and China.
2: Due to trump, more focus is placed on Chinese rather then other spy adventures, due to this, more chinese spy adventures are discovered. I think this goes misdiagnosed as an increase in Chinese spy activity, but could simply be seing a greater part of the iceberg.
As far as the Russians are concerned, its proven western duplicity (Maidan essentially means war) and open outright hostility coupled with an unrelenting propaganda war from the west compared to long terms hostile designs not noticably elevated about what is normal in great power competition from China, I sincerly doubt that Putin will change much. Russia is by far Chinas strongest neighbour, the Chinese are pretty machiavellian, they will go after other targets first. When they do so, the climate in the west will either shift in Russias favor enabling a western-Russian entente on terms Russia can live with, or it wont in which case Russia will aim to create terms it can live with in tandem with China, by force if neccessary.
One of Napoleons greatest blunders was his regime change adventure in Spain (which in some ways resulted in creating the conditions for Russias defection from the continental system, thus resulting in his even more decisive invasion of Russia), he eventually recogniced this. I have my doubts that the current US elites will appreciate their own blunders (Maidan was probably the dumbest action, after outsourcing their manufactoring to China, they could have realistically done. The only really stupid thing left available they didnt do yet is to invade Iran.) while still in power.
Posted by: A.I.S. | 15 April 2020 at 05:12 AM
AIS
Most of that reinforces my opinions and judgments.
Posted by: turcopolier | 15 April 2020 at 09:29 AM
Colonel,
When God-Free (hyphen is deliberate, communists, and none more so than the Chinese variety, love to flaunt their militant atheism, it's communist virtue signaling) Roberts started appearing in your comments, I knew something was up.
God-Free is a notorious ChiCom shill over at unz.com where this person has posting privileges as a regular. Given your vigilance concerning commenters' insidious agendas, I didn't raise any concerns, as I knew that you would smell this out, considering how transparent his presence was.
Injection of propaganda into dissident conservative blogs of influence seems to be a concerted plan. I think of it as "hasbara" from the Middle Kingdom. If they can't persuade, they hope to at least sow confusion and disinformation; this is forwarded through exploiting the admirable ethic of fair play and free speech so basic in most of the West. Wormtongues, indeed...
Posted by: JerseyJeffersonian | 15 April 2020 at 11:35 AM
JJackson,
"There is NO evidence that any human was involved ..."
Not yet, or at least not yet in public. However I have it on credible authority that Russia interfered in, oh wait, that's a Non sequitur, rather than a valid arguement about public policy and the trustworthyness of governments and private actors with vested interests that are opposed to the lawfully elected government of the USA.
Posted by: Fred | 15 April 2020 at 12:41 PM
JerseyJeffersonian,
A similar injection of propaganda and social pressure is happening on Facebook. Lots of commentary about the 'idiots' (and worse adjectives) in Lansing, the value of life and if you don't support the statewide shut down, etc. I find it interesting that I haven't spoke to any of these individuals in months, if not years, and now thanks to creative algorithm math, wallah! looky here at the real 'crisis' as shown by real nurses on the front lines and OMB and so are his supporters so do what you are told. Rather predictable and reminiscent of what happened on social media in the run up to the 2016 election.
Of course all hospitals in Detroit and 'overwhelmed', except that's not the case; and certainly not the case in the rest of the state. No more so than Florida, where I currently am. It is not just confusion and disinformation but dissention that is desired, and not just by China. My state senator (michingan) has a 'virtual town hall' on: "Michigan's Truth in Sentencing Law." Still no response to another constituent's question on when he's hosting a town hall on when we can unlock the state.
Posted by: Fred | 15 April 2020 at 09:20 PM