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See the sources for this article and more research in the Additional Reading section.
President Trump has called for a government investigation of the role of the Chinese government in the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 virus.
For now, listening to key experts, some speculate that scientists at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology lost control of this highly infectious virus last October or November, by accident. Others disagree. What we do know is that last December, the virus spread among the 11 million people of the city Wuhan, which is part of the Hubei province and its 60 million people.
In January, the Chinese government, run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), restricted travel in and out of Hubei domestically, but allowed international travel to Europe and the U.S. The CCP has not provided any explanation to this or any of the other vital questions that President Trump and the CDC have asked for repeatedly since early in the outbreak of the pandemic. Therefore President Trump ordered a US investigation, which will take time.
In the meantime, here is my assessment of how the COVID-19 crisis will impact the national security of U.S.:
(1) The U.S. government will increasingly blame the leadership of the CCP for the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2) The CCP will increasingly blame the U.S. for the pandemic.
(3) Relations between the two countries are guaranteed to deteriorate.
(4) Both countries will seek to avoid an armed conflict, as such confrontations can escalate rapidly.
(5) Both countries benefit from trade, and will seek to maintain the beneficial aspects of our relationship.
(6) Tensions will mount in other ways: the U.S. government will step up pressure on allies to not buy Chinese technology, such as telecommunication equipment from the government-controlled, innovative, and low-priced Hauwei.
(7) Pressure will mount on the U.S. government to close down the 500 CCP-sponsored Confucius Institutes on U.S. campuses, and close down the CCP subsidies behind the “1000 Talents Program.”
(8) The U.S. government may forbid universities from accepting CCP-sponsored graduate students.
(9) The U.S. government will insist or even force U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers not to allow more than 25% in Chinese imports of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.
(10) The U.S. government has also warned, and could demand, that U.S.- based pharmaceutical and vaccine innovators increase spending on cybersecurity to prevent Chinese cyber-hacking, into COVID-19 research, and in other vital areas of America’s most sensitive infrastructure, and those of US allies.
In summary, the competition between our two countries will intensify dramatically.
We must certainly hope the competition stays business like, and peaceful!
Coronavirus: UK ambassador to US backs investigation into origin – Business Insider
The Wuhan lab at the heart of the US-China virus spat – The Economic Times
The coronavirus did not escape from a lab. Here’s how we know. – Live Science
How China’s ‘Bat Woman’ Hunted Down Viruses from SARS to the New Coronavirus – Scientific American
China lifts 76-day travel ban on Wuhan, centre of the coronavirus pandemic – France24
Six Questions for Xi Jinping: An update (Niall Ferguson)
How China locked down internally for COVID-19, but pushed foreign travel – Economic Times
Opinion: Let’s Zoom Xi. He has questions to answer – The Globe and Mail
Accusing China of deliberately exporting COVID-19 absurd – Global Times
VIDEO: Trump says U.S. is investigating China over virus
Huawei: Is it a security threat and what will be its role in UK 5G? – BBC News
U.S. Senate Report Slams Confucius Institutes – Time
The Thousand Traitors Program by John David – National Association of Scholars
Chairman: Before China computer hack, OPM warned, ‘Unplug it, turn it off’ – Washington Examiner
China’s Hacking Spree Will Have a Decades-Long Fallout – WIRED
US Accuses China-Linked Hackers of Stealing Coronavirus Research – Algemeiner
Chinese Hackers Exploit Cisco, Citrix Flaws in Massive Espionage Campaign – Threatpost
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