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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Success for Taiwan

    Taiwan Emerging From Pandemic With a Stronger Hand Against China
    By Iain Marlow
    April 29, 2020, 5:03 PM GMT+7 Updated on April 30, 2020, 6:02 AM GMT+7
    https://www.bloomberg.com/asia


    • Call with Trump official shows geopolitical ramifications
    • Taiwan to benefit even as China blocks it from global bodies


    A health worker sprays disinfectants at the National Taiwan Normal University on April 17. Photographer: Lin Yen Ting/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    Few governments around the world are likely to emerge from the pandemic with a stronger standing than before. Taiwan is one of them -- and that’s not good for China.

    Taiwan was forced to contain the outbreak without official help from the World Health Organization and other international bodies, thanks to China’s longstanding push to isolate the democratically ruled island that it claims as its territory. For weeks, leaders in Taipei struggled to evacuate residents from the virus epicenter in Wuhan, as Beijing rejected basic conditions such as having Taiwanese medical personnel aboard the aircraft.

    Around the same time, the People’s Republic of China flew bombers and fighter jets around the island, prompting President Tsai Ing-Wen to scramble warplanes.

    Despite those hurdles, Taiwan has led the world in its fight against the virus, with only about 400 infections and six deaths for a population of 23 million. By comparison, New York state -- with slightly fewer people -- had almost 300,000 cases and more than 22,000 deaths.
    Taiwan’s success against Covid-19 has shown that democracies could fight the virus without resorting to authoritarian measures, serving as a key rebuttal against Chinese propaganda showcasing the strength of its system against the West. Tapei’s openness also contrasted sharply with the lack of transparency about the initial outbreak and subsequent diplomatic pressure from the Beijing, generating goodwill that could pay dividends in the future.

    “I can’t think of another issue with such global resonance that has broken so favorably for Taiwan, and so negatively for the PRC, since perhaps the Tiananmen Square massacre,” said Kharis Templeman, an adviser to the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

    While the overall geopolitical dynamics were unlikely to change much given China’s growing economic clout, Taiwan’s “international stature has done well out of this crisis,” Templeman said. “Taiwan has been dealing with Chinese opacity and propaganda campaigns for decades. So there’s definitely some rise in sympathy for Taiwan.”
    U.S.-China Tensions

    A call this week between Taiwan’s health minister and the Trump administration’s top health official served to reinforce the island’s importance to the global community, while also signaling that it could become a point of tension between the U.S. and China. Support for Taipei has surged in Washington after President Donald Trump held an unprecedented 2016 phone call with Tsai, launched a bruising trade war against Xi Jinping’s government and sold Taiwan long-coveted F-16 fighter jets.

    China’s foreign ministry objected to the latest phone call, demanding that the U.S. “immediately correct its mistake, stop manipulating the Taiwan issue by taking advantage of the pandemic, and stop official contacts with Taiwan.” The ministry urged “the U.S. side to adhere to one-China principle,” referring to Washington’s long-held position that the PRC is China’s sole legal government.

    Last year, Xi reaffirmed Beijing’s desire to govern Taiwan under the same “one country, two systems” framework as the former British colony of Hong Kong. That position is deeply unpopular in Taiwan, which re-elected Tsai in a landslide in January. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party views Taiwan as a sovereign, independent nation.


    Cardboard cutouts of fans prior to the CPBL season opening game at Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium on April 11.
    Photographer: Gene Wang/Getty Images

    For the moment, Taiwan is basking in the glow of international praise. It’s won plaudits for not only stemming infections, but also pledges to ship millions of surgical masks to Europe, the U.S. and its few remaining diplomatic allies around the world that China hasn’t picked off. Taipei has also held virtual seminars with countries such as India and the Philippines, according to Wang Ting-yu, a lawmaker in Tsai’s party and member of Taiwan’s foreign affairs and national defense committee.

    “This year will be the closest moment for Taiwan to participate in international organizations,” Wang said. “Not only have we shown our capability to stop the virus from spreading, we’re also using democracy to stop it from spreading -- we’re communicating with our people and the government and the people are on the same side fighting the virus. This message can provide a reference for the world.”

    ‘Historic High’


    Taiwan’s successful virus approach -- led by a National Health Command Center set up following the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, outbreak in 2003 -- combined proactive testing, big data and new technologies. That included early screening of flights, the rapid identification and containment of potential cases, integrating its national health insurance and immigration databases, and ensuring quarantine compliance via mobile phone tracking. The government quickly took more than 120 separate public health measures.

    In some ways, Taiwan’s adversity also helped underwrite its response. Taipei has little room for error because it can’t seek help from multilateral agencies and Beijing would pounce on any missteps, said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, a managing director at the consultancy Bower Group Asia.

    “Today, Taiwan’s standing is at a historic high,” said Hammond-Chambers, who is also president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council. Still, he added, over the longer term “the stark reality of the PRC’s financial muscle and heavy-handed political strategies will mitigate much of the positive equity Taiwan has built amongst nations.”

    ‘Silliness’


    The pandemic served as an ideal springboard for Taiwan’s long-standing campaign for diplomatic inclusion. A high-profile exchange between a journalist and WHO official Bruce Aylward, who repeatedly tried to avoid mentioning Taiwan, “did a great job of highlighting the silliness of excluding what is effectively a nation of 23 million people from important international bodies,” said Graeme Smith, a fellow at the Australian National University who researches China’s influence across Asia.

    China’s veto power in many international bodies is likely to continue to keep Taiwan on the outside looking in, said Shelley Rigger, a political science professor at Davidson College and author of “Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse.” Still, she said, the favorable attention Taiwan was earning would still have an impact.

    “It does matter, because if things get ugly, Taiwan will benefit from a positive image and high profile,” Rigger said. “And if opportunities to loosen Beijing’s stranglehold on its international space do appear, Taiwan needs for people around the world to respond quickly to take advantage of them.”
    Majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat
    kmart's Avatar
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    “Not only have we shown our capability to stop the virus from spreading, we’re also using democracy to stop it from spreading -- we’re communicating with our people and the government and the people are on the same side fighting the virus. This message can provide a reference for the world.”
    Taiwan doesn't seem to have had a problem with C-19. Maybe not joining the WHO was a big help.?
    The WHO Ignores Taiwan. The World Pays the Price. | The Nation

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    ...we will see more of this as the WHO orbits Chinese cash ever more closely...

  4. #4
    กงเกวียนกำเกวียน HuangLao's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    ...we will see more of this as the WHO orbits Chinese cash ever more closely...

    Shirley, you're not suggesting.....[???]

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HuangLao View Post
    Shirley, you're not suggesting.....[???]
    ...it's the way of the world: US cash bought a (mostly) compliant UN for decades...

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    China blocks it from global bodies
    Fake story.

    The WHO has rules agreed by it's members.

    One of which is that members are to be a sovereign country. Unfortunately The UN members do not recognise Taiwan as such.

    What was fit for the goose is now fit for the gander.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    a)Fake story.

    b)The WHO has rules agreed by it's members.

    c)One of which is that members are to be a sovereign country. Unfortunately The UN members do not recognise Taiwan as such.

    d)What was fit for the goose is now fit for the gander.
    a) Bloomberg uses fact-based research to support its reporting (unlike the fantasy-based opinions expressed by you)
    b) Irrelevant: organizations will always find a way to accept cash..."special status" comes to mind...
    c) Irrelevant (see b)
    d) Please post in dinner thread

    NB: FOO-O

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Fake story.

    The WHO has rules agreed by it's members.

    One of which is that members are to be a sovereign country. Unfortunately The UN members do not recognise Taiwan as such.

    What was fit for the goose is now fit for the gander.
    As a non member of your club if I were knock on the door with evidence that one of your members is about to burn the place down, would you ignore the warning?

    The only question of interest for me is how much the Chinese are paying topshelf@WHO.

  9. #9
    กงเกวียนกำเกวียน HuangLao's Avatar
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    The bottom line:
    The WHO is very much akin to any other so called "International" bodies that claims objectivity/balance in their practices, yet forced to play game of the ever present prejudicial politicos.

    They're ok if it works for your political/social interests/bias.
    But not ok if it doesn't.

    Throughout our nasty histories, there are numerous and prime examples of ethos that have been trampled upon - in many forms and degrees.
    Nothing is terribly saintly nor evil as to what has to activities here and there.
    There are no standards of high moral grounds and perspectives, except within your particular dream world.
    Last edited by HuangLao; 30-04-2020 at 08:24 PM.

  10. #10
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    Fauci: World Health Organization boss 'really an outstanding person' done 'very well' on coronavirus
    Fauci: WHO head 'really an outstanding person'

    April 9, 2020The World Health Organization has landed in President Trump’s crosshairs for its handling of the coronavirus, yet Dr. Tony Fauci, a senior adviser on the White House’s coronavirus task force, has recently praised the group's top leader.

    WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has come under fire for allegedly failing to warn the world about the speedy, lethal nature of the coronavirus originating in China.

    Multiple U.S. lawmakers, as well as Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, have called for Ghebreyesus’s removal. A Change.org petition has garnered nearly 780K petition signers urging Tedros' ouster.

    "Tedros is really an outstanding person,” Fauci said during the March 25 coronavirus task force briefing. “I've known him from the time that he was the minister of Health of Ethiopia. “I mean, obviously, over the years, anyone who says that the WHO has not had problems has not been watching the WHO. But I think, under his leadership, they've done very well.”

    Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), praised Ghebreyesus’ handling of the coronavirus epidemic.

    “He has been all over this,” Fauci said. “I was on the phone with him a few hours ago leading a WHO call."

    Neither the White House nor NIH returned requests for comment from Just the News.

    “The W.H.O. really blew it,” Trump recently tweeted. “For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?”

    A University of Southampton study suggests the number of coronavirus cases could have been reduced by 95% had China moved to contain the virus three weeks sooner.

    "We will look at ending funding," Trump said at Tuesday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing. "We give a majority of the money that they get. They really called it wrong. They called it wrong. They really missed the call. They could have called it months earlier, they would have known. They should have known, and they probably did know. So we'll be looking into that very carefully, and we're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold, and we're going to see. It's a great thing if it works. But when they call every shot wrong, that's no good."

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said decisions about funding and personnel changes at the World Health Organization should wait until after the heat of the coronavirus pandemic cools.

    "This is not the time for retribution, but it is still the time for clarity and transparency," Pompeo said Wednesday at the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing. "We're still working on this problem set. There's still data these good people need so that they perform their analysis of how to both develop therapeutics and a vaccine, and to understand where this virus is ... It started in China, and so they have that special responsibility to get it right quickly and fast ... We'll leave for another time to evaluate how everyone did in that."

    As doctors in China began to warn about coronavirus spreading, the WHO adopted China’s official position that there was “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus.” The WHO congratulated China for “setting a new standard for outbreak response.”

    On February 15th, the WHO claimed China was “slowing the spread to the rest of the world,” and despite serious concerns doubting the data being put out by China, the WHO defended China once again.

    “I didn’t see anything that suggested manipulation of numbers,” Ghebreyesus reportedly said.

    Global health experts have strongly criticized the WHO’s failure to issue a warning for months during West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, calling it an “egregious failure.”

    TIME magazine reported that “Top leaders at the World Health Organization (WHO) have admitted to being ‘ill prepared’ to handle the Ebola outbreak and released a comprehensive list of agency failings as well as suggested reforms they and global policymakers must realize moving forward.”

    During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, WHO was accused of inaccurately portraying the situation to member states and potentially costing billions of dollars for wasted vaccines that weren’t used. In 2004, medical experts said the WHO allocated millions of dollars to malaria medicines that were no longer effective against the disease.

    Fauci: World Health Organization boss 'really an outstanding person' done 'very well' on coronavirus | Just The News

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    ...we will see more of this as the WHO orbits Chinese cash ever more closely...
    Maybe why the US is talking about setting up a rival body....

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Fake story.

    The WHO has rules agreed by it's members.

    One of which is that members are to be a sovereign country. Unfortunately The UN members do not recognise Taiwan as such.

    What was fit for the goose is now fit for the gander.
    When it comes to global health, there is no room for chinky propaganda.

    They lied about their Wuhan virus and they strongarmed WHO into keeping off their backs - no doubt because the head of that organisation was told by his country not to upset the chinkies let it impede the large influx of chinky bribes - sorry, "investment".

  13. #13
    RIP pseudolus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Fauci
    Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab with Millions of U.S. Dollars for Risky Coronavirus Research#


    Dr. Anthony Fauci is an adviser to President Donald Trump and something of an American folk hero for his steady, calm leadership during the pandemic crisis. At least one poll shows that Americans trust Fauci more than Trump on the coronavirus pandemic—and few scientists are portrayed on TV by Brad Pitt.
    But just last year, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.
    In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million.
    Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release.
    SARS-CoV-2 , the virus now causing a global pandemic, is believed to have originated in bats. U.S. intelligence, after originally asserting that the coronavirus had occurred naturally, conceded last month that the pandemic may have originated in a leak from the Wuhan lab. (At this point most scientists say it's possible—but not likely—that the pandemic virus was engineered or manipulated.)
    Dr. Fauci did not respond to Newsweek's requests for comment. NIH responded with a statement that said in part: "Most emerging human viruses come from wildlife, and these represent a significant threat to public health and biosecurity in the US and globally, as demonstrated by the SARS epidemic of 2002-03, and the current COVID-19 pandemic.... scientific research indicates that there is no evidence that suggests the virus was created in a laboratory."

    The Controversial Experiments and Wuhan Lab Suspected of Starting PandemicREAD MORE

    The NIH research consisted of two parts. The first part began in 2014 and involved surveillance of bat coronaviruses, and had a budget of $3.7 million. The program funded Shi Zheng-Li, a virologist at the Wuhan lab, and other researchers to investigate and catalogue bat coronaviruses in the wild. This part of the project was completed in 2019.



    A second phase of the project, beginning that year, included additional surveillance work but also gain-of-function research for the purpose of understanding how bat coronaviruses could mutate to attack humans. The project was run by EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit research group, under the direction of President Peter Daszak, an expert on disease ecology. NIH canceled the project just this past Friday, April 24th, Politico reported. Daszak did not immediately respond to Newsweek requests for comment.
    The project proposal states: "We will use S protein sequence data, infectious clone technology, in vitro and in vivo infection experiments and analysis of receptor binding to test the hypothesis that % divergence thresholds in S protein sequences predict spillover potential."
    In layman's terms, "spillover potential" refers to the ability of a virus to jump from animals to humans, which requires that the virus be able to attach to receptors in the cells of humans. SARS-CoV-2, for instance, is adept at binding to the ACE2 receptor in human lungs and other organs.
    According to Richard Ebright, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers University, the project description refers to experiments that would enhance the ability of bat coronavirus to infect human cells and laboratory animals using techniques of genetic engineering. In the wake of the pandemic, that is a noteworthy detail.
    Ebright, along with many other scientists, has been a vocal opponent of gain-of-function research because of the risk it presents of creating a pandemic through accidental release from a lab.
    Dr. Fauci is renowned for his work on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1990s. Born in Brooklyn, he graduated first in his class from Cornell University Medical College in 1966. As head of NIAID since 1984, he has served as an adviser to every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan.
    A decade ago, during a controversy over gain-of-function research on bird-flu viruses, Dr. Fauci played an important role in promoting the work. He argued that the research was worth the risk it entailed because it enables scientists to make preparations, such as investigating possible anti-viral medications, that could be useful if and when a pandemic occurred.
    The work in question was a type of gain-of-function research that involved taking wild viruses and passing them through live animals until they mutate into a form that could pose a pandemic threat. Scientists used it to take a virus that was poorly transmitted among humans and make it into one that was highly transmissible—a hallmark of a pandemic virus. This work was done by infecting a series of ferrets, allowing the virus to mutate until a ferret that hadn't been deliberately infected contracted the disease.
    The work entailed risks that worried even seasoned researchers. More than 200 scientists called for the work to be halted. The problem, they said, is that it increased the likelihood that a pandemic would occur through a laboratory accident.

    China Suggests U.S. Is 'Hiding Something' About Its Coronavirus ResponseREAD MORE

    Dr. Fauci defended the work. "[D]etermining the molecular Achilles' heel of these viruses can allow scientists to identify novel antiviral drug targets that could be used to prevent infection in those at risk or to better treat those who become infected," wrote Fauci and two co-authors in the Washington Post on December 30, 2011. "Decades of experience tells us that disseminating information gained through biomedical research to legitimate scientists and health officials provides a critical foundation for generating appropriate countermeasures and, ultimately, protecting the public health."
    Nevertheless, in 2014, under pressure from the Obama administration, the National of Institutes of Health instituted a moratorium on the work, suspending 21 studies.
    Three years later, though—in December 2017—the NIH ended the moratorium and the second phase of the NIAID project, which included the gain-of-function research, began. The NIH established a framework for determining how the research would go forward: scientists have to get approval from a panel of experts, who would decide whether the risks were justified.
    The reviews were indeed conducted—but in secret, for which the NIH has drawn criticism. In early 2019, after a reporter for Science magazine discovered that the NIH had approved two influenza research projects that used gain of function methods, scientists who oppose this kind of research excoriated the NIH in an editorial in the Washington Post.
    "We have serious doubts about whether these experiments should be conducted at all," wrote Tom Inglesby of Johns Hopkins University and Marc Lipsitch of Harvard. "[W]ith deliberations kept behind closed doors, none of us will have the opportunity to understand how the government arrived at these decisions or to judge the rigor and integrity of that process."
    Dr. Anthony Fauci is an adviser to President Donald Trump and something of an American folk hero for his steady, calm leadership during the pandemic crisis. At least one poll shows that Americans trust Fauci more than Trump on the coronavirus pandemic—and few scientists are portrayed on TV by Brad Pitt.
    But just last year, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.
    In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million.
    Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release.
    SARS-CoV-2 , the virus now causing a global pandemic, is believed to have originated in bats. U.S. intelligence, after originally asserting that the coronavirus had occurred naturally, conceded last month that the pandemic may have originated in a leak from the Wuhan lab. (At this point most scientists say it's possible—but not likely—that the pandemic virus was engineered or manipulated.)
    Dr. Fauci did not respond to Newsweek's requests for comment. NIH responded with a statement that said in part: "Most emerging human viruses come from wildlife, and these represent a significant threat to public health and biosecurity in the US and globally, as demonstrated by the SARS epidemic of 2002-03, and the current COVID-19 pandemic.... scientific research indicates that there is no evidence that suggests the virus was created in a laboratory."

    The Controversial Experiments and Wuhan Lab Suspected of Starting PandemicREAD MORE

    The NIH research consisted of two parts. The first part began in 2014 and involved surveillance of bat coronaviruses, and had a budget of $3.7 million. The program funded Shi Zheng-Li, a virologist at the Wuhan lab, and other researchers to investigate and catalogue bat coronaviruses in the wild. This part of the project was completed in 2019.



    A second phase of the project, beginning that year, included additional surveillance work but also gain-of-function research for the purpose of understanding how bat coronaviruses could mutate to attack humans. The project was run by EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit research group, under the direction of President Peter Daszak, an expert on disease ecology. NIH canceled the project just this past Friday, April 24th, Politico reported. Daszak did not immediately respond to Newsweek requests for comment.
    The project proposal states: "We will use S protein sequence data, infectious clone technology, in vitro and in vivo infection experiments and analysis of receptor binding to test the hypothesis that % divergence thresholds in S protein sequences predict spillover potential."
    In layman's terms, "spillover potential" refers to the ability of a virus to jump from animals to humans, which requires that the virus be able to attach to receptors in the cells of humans. SARS-CoV-2, for instance, is adept at binding to the ACE2 receptor in human lungs and other organs.
    According to Richard Ebright, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers University, the project description refers to experiments that would enhance the ability of bat coronavirus to infect human cells and laboratory animals using techniques of genetic engineering. In the wake of the pandemic, that is a noteworthy detail.
    Ebright, along with many other scientists, has been a vocal opponent of gain-of-function research because of the risk it presents of creating a pandemic through accidental release from a lab.
    Dr. Fauci is renowned for his work on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1990s. Born in Brooklyn, he graduated first in his class from Cornell University Medical College in 1966. As head of NIAID since 1984, he has served as an adviser to every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan.
    A decade ago, during a controversy over gain-of-function research on bird-flu viruses, Dr. Fauci played an important role in promoting the work. He argued that the research was worth the risk it entailed because it enables scientists to make preparations, such as investigating possible anti-viral medications, that could be useful if and when a pandemic occurred.
    The work in question was a type of gain-of-function research that involved taking wild viruses and passing them through live animals until they mutate into a form that could pose a pandemic threat. Scientists used it to take a virus that was poorly transmitted among humans and make it into one that was highly transmissible—a hallmark of a pandemic virus. This work was done by infecting a series of ferrets, allowing the virus to mutate until a ferret that hadn't been deliberately infected contracted the disease.
    The work entailed risks that worried even seasoned researchers. More than 200 scientists called for the work to be halted. The problem, they said, is that it increased the likelihood that a pandemic would occur through a laboratory accident.

    China Suggests U.S. Is 'Hiding Something' About Its Coronavirus ResponseREAD MORE

    Dr. Fauci defended the work. "[D]etermining the molecular Achilles' heel of these viruses can allow scientists to identify novel antiviral drug targets that could be used to prevent infection in those at risk or to better treat those who become infected," wrote Fauci and two co-authors in the Washington Post on December 30, 2011. "Decades of experience tells us that disseminating information gained through biomedical research to legitimate scientists and health officials provides a critical foundation for generating appropriate countermeasures and, ultimately, protecting the public health."
    Nevertheless, in 2014, under pressure from the Obama administration, the National of Institutes of Health instituted a moratorium on the work, suspending 21 studies.
    Three years later, though—in December 2017—the NIH ended the moratorium and the second phase of the NIAID project, which included the gain-of-function research, began. The NIH established a framework for determining how the research would go forward: scientists have to get approval from a panel of experts, who would decide whether the risks were justified.
    The reviews were indeed conducted—but in secret, for which the NIH has drawn criticism. In early 2019, after a reporter for Science magazine discovered that the NIH had approved two influenza research projects that used gain of function methods, scientists who oppose this kind of research excoriated the NIH in an editorial in the Washington Post.
    "We have serious doubts about whether these experiments should be conducted at all," wrote Tom Inglesby of Johns Hopkins University and Marc Lipsitch of Harvard. "[W]ith deliberations kept behind closed doors, none of us will have the opportunity to understand how the government arrived at these decisions or to judge the rigor and integrity of that process."

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Ouch ?

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Pseudopuss still hasn't mastered how to format posts.

    He's not very bright you know.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    ^Did you read it ?

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by helge View Post
    ^Did you read it ?
    It's old news being rehashed by the whackjobs.

    The US (and Canada) were funding the chinkies under Obama, who understood the need for pandemic research and proper response. It was to try and teach the stupid bastards to stop eating fucking bats and learn how to handle their viruses.

    Didn't fucking work though, did it.

  18. #18
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    It was to try and teach the stupid bastards
    to manage the risks of the laboratories doing the research

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Didn't fucking work though, did it.
    no - Huang Yan Ling

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    Bloomberg uses fact-based research
    Are you stating that:

    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    The WHO has rules agreed by it's members.

    One of which is that members are to be a sovereign country.
    are fake?

    Quote Originally Posted by jabir View Post
    The only question of interest for me is how much the Chinese are paying topshelf@WHO.
    As this is a news thread, an "acceptable" source is allegedly required to substantiate all allegations of illegalities. I suspect all members pay agreed dues.

    Cash under the table, granting IMF/other bank payments/appointments to lucrative company boards ... is either public info or easily traceable and hence "public"

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Maybe why the US is talking about setting up a rival body....
    It will be interesting to await the formal creation of it. ameristan does have previous regarding, delivering on "promises", creating and sustaining any such agreed international agreements.

    Threats of regime change, sanctions by ameristan are being ignored/bypassed by more and more countries.

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    When it comes to global health
    Are you suggesting a global ban on biological reasearch by all countries, or just those with a brownish skin colour?

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Pseudopuss still hasn't mastered how to format posts.

    He's not very bright you know.
    As yours are similarly afflicted constantly, would you inform him of the "cure". Or have you a lucrative "vaccine" under testing and not proven effective?

    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Are you stating that: blah blah blah
    Are you having trouble reading?

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldrick View Post
    to manage the risks of the laboratories doing the research
    Yeah, the "How not to drop bottles of coronovirus virus" class might need a revamp though.

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