Member of the House of Representatives Takashi Nagao is head of the Kansai Branch of my Shoheijuku academy. He wrote an article, “We Must not Harm Japan By Welcoming Xi as a State Guest,” that was published in the March issue of Seiron magazine. It read:
Other countries have been continually deceived by China. Deng Xiaoping, previously the most powerful person in China, set forth a course of reform and opening up the country – in other words, establishing a market-based socialist economy. China promoted this across the world and became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, when it promised to implement capital liberation and cease foreign capital regulation. However, it has reneged on these promises. Former President Hu Jintao always used soft diplomacy while wearing a mask of friendship and harmony with the U.S. Japan and the U.S. have been important markets for Chinese technologies and other products. China shocked the world by using Hong Kong as a contact point to bring about a trade surplus through physical products. In the background of their policies, the U.S. and Japan probably believed China would eventually become a democratic nation. However, it is merely a fantasy to think the Communist Party of China (CPC) would abandon its dictatorial system and adopt democracy.
We must be aware that Chinese diplomacy is “strategy diplomacy.” China’s sole ideology is Sinocentrism. There is a saying in China that “two people should not look down a well together.” This expresses an extreme distrust of other people because, when you are peering down into the well, the other person may push you in. In China, the concept of thriving together – of recognizing each other in a friendly way despite your differences, and building positive relationships from an equal standpoint – does not hold water. Rather, the unconditional philosophy is that China’s prosperity is the only thing that matters.
Since last June, I have strongly opposed welcoming Xi to Japan as a state guest unless something happens to resolve the repeated territorial violations into the Senkaku Islands, Japanese citizens in Chinese custody, and other issues, and improvements are made regarding China’s serious oppression of human rights in Tibet, the Uygur region, and southern Mongolia. Freedom and human rights are universal values for mankind, and we must not allow any government to trample them. The world is strongly concerned that the situation might worsen, including China’s limitations on fundamental human rights, denial of freedom of religion, and suppression of ethnic identity and languages.
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of Japan’s first proposal to abolish racial discrimination at an international conference (the Paris Peace Conference) in 1919. This was struck down, but Japan was thinking more seriously about human rights than any other country back then, when the world was not yet very aware of racial issues. One century has passed since that time. The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act was passed in the U.S. Congress, and I find it deplorable that no efforts are being made in the Japanese National Diet to pass a resolution criticizing China for its suppression of human rights.
I completely agree with Nagao’s statement that, “We must not allow Xi’s bloodstained hands to shake those of His Majesty the Emperor.”
The 2019 Novel Coronavirus – first identified in Wuhan, China – is the most-discussed topic in the world right now. The first novel coronavirus outbreak was Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) from 2002 to 2003. The SARS outbreak was centered on Guangdong in southern China. Just like SARS, the novel coronavirus is a respiratory infection transmitted from animals to humans.
On February 5, the top article on the front page of The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper was entitled, “WHO Sends Investigation Team to China, Says Coronavirus is not a Pandemic.”
Dr. Sylvie Briand, WHO director of infectious hazard management, held a press conference yesterday in Geneva where she said the novel coronavirus is not a pandemic. She stated there is no present evidence that the virus is mutating, and that it is relatively stable.
Hua Chunying, director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Information Department, gave a press conference via social media yesterday. She referred to the February 3 WHO report and emphasized that infections outside China comprise less than 1% of the number inside China. She once again criticized the United States and other countries that have banned Chinese travelers as violating what the WHO advocates.
However, the first coronavirus case was identified in Belgium yesterday, and the disease has been confirmed in 27 countries and regions outside of the Chinese mainland. One person has died in Hong Kong, the second death outside mainland China.
According to the tally as of 11:00 p.m. on February 4 (12:00 midnight on February 5 JST) on the People’s Daily Online, the official newspaper of the CPC, 20,490 people in mainland China have been infected and 425 have died. At a press conference yesterday, the Chinese National Health Commission stated the fatality rate is 2.1% in mainland China and 4.9% in Wuhan (Hubei), the center of the outbreak.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom was minister of foreign affairs of Ethiopia, his home country, from 2012 to 2016. Ethiopia is said to be the African nation with the closest ties to China, including the massive amounts of infrastructure investment it receives. Adhanom met with Xi at the end of January and praised China’s handling of the virus, yet China has failed at containing it in Wuhan. WHO’s state of emergency declaration on January 30 was quite delayed, and some believe this was a factor behind the worldwide spread of the virus. I think it makes sense to criticize the WHO for handling this virus in a way that is overly solicitous of China.
The February 4 issue of Newsweek contained an article entitled, “New Respiratory Illness Affects the Poor Most Heavily.”
Impoverished Chinese citizens have a difficult time receiving suitable medical care. The poor demographic has the highest chance of encountering the novel coronavirus, and face the greatest risk of a sudden outbreak. They are also most heavily impacted by the extreme measures suddenly taken by the Chinese government.
The virus is thought to have been transmitted from animals to humans at a seafood market in Wuhan. The market also handled a wide range of unusual animals such as wolf cubs, snakes, and bats (thought to be the source of this disease).
This is the case at seafood markets across China. Migrant workers from other areas are mainly the ones who do the unclean, dangerous job of handling these animals.
Wuhan has three historic districts: Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankou. The city grew rapidly due to real estate development at the end of the 20th century. However, Wuhan’s medical systems have not kept up with the city’s fast-paced growth, and they are already at their utmost limits due to the current danger.
When Wuhan’s public transportation was shut down on January 23, many migrant workers and college students from other regions had already departed for home. The most pressing issue for public health authorities in these regions is collecting information, as there is fear that these people might have brought the coronavirus home with them.
However, it is a fact that news reports are being released more rapidly on confirmed cases in South Korea and Thailand, rather than cases in Wuhan’s neighboring cities.
Chinese travelers confirmed to have the disease in other countries are much richer than the average Chinese citizen. This is clear simply because they have the economic ability to take trips abroad. Less than 10% of Chinese citizens even have a passport.
Compared to the workers heading to their rural homes in crowded trucks, and those returning to distant homes on long-haul buses, there is a much higher chance of identifying coronavirus from a coughing Chinese traveler in an economy-class seat on a flight to Bangkok.
Moreover, even if they feel slightly unhealthy, most migrant workers probably do not want to miss their only chance to travel home during the season when everyone is on holiday.
China is a surveillance society, but there are holes in this network. Although the Chinese middle class is subjected to a great deal of surveillance through a technology-based profiling system, the poor demographic is left out of this.
It is likely that the number of cases would rapidly jump to the millions if we could obtain correct data on this poor demographic.
Online media JBpress published an article on January 29, 2020 entitled, “American Media Suggests Novel Coronavirus Originated From the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
This possibility was reported by Bill Gertz, a veteran reporter who is well versed in American strategies and Sino-American military trends. His large article was published in The Washington Times on January 24.
In the article, Gertz points out that Wuhan, the city hit by the virus, has two laboratories connected to the Chinese bio-warfare program, and states the possibility that the new respiratory virus spread from the National Biosafety Laboratory.
Construction started on the National Biosafety Laboratory, which studies highly infectious viruses, in 2015, and the facility was completed in 2017. It has done research on deadly viruses such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever and Nipah virus infection.
According to Gertz’s article, the laboratory is around 30 kilometers from the seafood market where the novel coronavirus was first detected by the Chinese authorities.
The online version of The Epoch Times – Japan ran an article, dated February 6, 2020, entitled, “Novel Coronavirus: Pointing out Careless Management at Wuhan P4 Lab, Where Laboratory Animals Were Kept as Pets.”
According to a paper in the January 26 issue of Science, an American scientific journal, the first patient had never visited the Wuhan seafood market. However, the Chinese authorities named the market as the source of the outbreak.
In his February 4 post on Sina Weibo (a Chinese microblogging site) under his real name, Xu said he would denounce the WIV and provide proof. The WIV has jurisdiction over the National Biosafety Laboratory, the P4 lab.
Xu posted that the WIV carelessly manages its laboratory animals, and shared his guess that the animal with the virus was sold at the market, leading to the spread of the disease.
Xu added an article on Chinese biologist Li Ning, who has improperly sold laboratory animals.
According to the Chinese media, the Jilin Songyuan Intermediate People’s Court (district court) handed Li a guilty verdict for fraudulent appropriation, with a sentence of 12 years imprisonment, on January 2. This trial took five years.
The judgement paper said Li purchased cows and pigs for animal tests using research subsidiaries from China Agricultural University, his place of work, via his research project from July 2008 to February 2012. When the tests were complete, Li sold the pigs, cows, and milk from the cows to pig farms and other business operators, receiving more than 10 million yuan (roughly 157.64 million yen) in profit. China Agricultural University’s expense management rules required that he return the funds to the school. Li also submitted falsified receipts and other documents to receive 27 million yuan (about 425.64 million yen) in research costs from the university.
However, the judgement paper did not refer to how these laboratory animals were used for testing, why they were not killed after the tests, or what they were utilized for after being sold.
An Internet user named “Dr. Wu Xiaohua” posted on the WeChat messaging app that “the lab management is extremely crude.” Wu wrote, “Laboratory animals such as dogs are sold as pets. They treat animal corpses carelessly because it costs more to cremate them and dispose of them as hospital waste. They are even sold as wild animals. Some researchers eat boiled specific-pathogen-free (SPF) eggs, and some have killed and consumed laboratory pigs.”
It is thought the novel coronavirus is a biological weapon leaked from the lab, where China is developing atomic, biological, and chemical weapons – weapons of mass destruction.
Xi is attempting to build his own empire by abolishing the party regulation specifying two terms of five years (10 years total), which was maintained by Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Perhaps this virus is an admonition of Xi’s one-party regime. Wuhan ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang, who first sounded the alarm about this unknown respiratory illness in December 2019, was admonished by the Chinese authorities and punished for “rumormongering.” He then died from the coronavirus, although it is highly likely his death means something else.
Many lives in Japan and nearby countries are in danger from the spread of the novel coronavirus, which is also having major impacts on the global economy. Japan must revise its constitution to make the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) into an official military and ensure peace through a balance of power in East Asia, with the aim of becoming a truly independent nation that can stand up to the hostile, continually expanding China.
According to an online article, the novel coronavirus is highly contagious, but only one person in Japan has died so far compared to the more than 3,000 people who were killed by influenza last year and the fatality rate is not so high. Most of the cases are people on the Diamond Princess, a British cruise ship operated by an American company. This ship just happens to be allowed to dock in Yokohama, so the cases are reported as occurring in Japan. However, the cruise passengers should not be included in the Japanese total. Not so many people are infected by the coronavirus, but major damage is being caused by harmful rumors in various countries. The coronavirus is weak against heat and humidity, making it a greater threat in cold, dry conditions. The weather will warm up and the humidity will rise in May, so the situation should quiet down naturally.
We must take care not to believe the number of infections and deaths released by China. A total of 763 Japanese citizens returned home from Wuhan on four chartered flights, of whom nine were confirmed to have the coronavirus, making the rate about 1.18%. Based on this, there should be about 130,000 cases in Wuhan, which has a population of approximately 11 million. The Hubei health authorities said on February 9 there have been 15,000 cases, which is fairly small. This suggests the official numbers released by China have low credibility, and we should assume there are actually five to 10 times more infections. Japan must use its own information network to investigate what is happening in China and decide how to respond.
As Nagao pointed out, Chinese diplomacy is “strategy diplomacy.” China uses its economic power to invest massive amounts in African nations and influence their governments. Some international organizations are strongly impacted by China, such as the case of WHO Director-General Adhanom, whose home country receives economic aid from China.
Today, Japan’s neighbor of China is threatening other countries not only through economic and military power, but also via the spread of viruses and clout in international politics. Since Japan cannot move its location, we must be prepared to handle the China threat in a variety of ways.
February 19 (Wednesday), 10:00 a.m.