From China hints at denying Americans life-saving coronavirus drugs:
Now that the number of new people infected with the coronavirus in China is slowing down, the country’s Communist Party is ratcheting up threats against the West, with a particularly nasty warning about access to life-saving drugs aimed at the United States.
In an article in Xinhua, the state-run media agency that’s largely considered the mouthpiece of the party, Beijing bragged about its handling of COVID-19, a virus that originated in the city of Wuhan and has spread quickly around the world, killing nearly 5,000 people and infecting thousands more. The article also claimed that China could impose pharmaceutical export controls which would plunge America into “the mighty sea of coronavirus.”
From an article in Xinhua, the state-run media agency [1]:
“If China retaliates against the United States at this time, in addition to announcing a travel ban on the United States, it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the United States. Then the United States will be caught in the ocean of new corona viruses.
“Also according to the US CDC officials, most of the drugs in the United States are imported…If China banned exports, the United States will fall into the hell of a new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic.”
“We should say righteously that the US owes China an apology, the world owes China a ‘thank you’.”
From Pentagon Sees Security Threat in China’s Drug-Supply Dominance:
The Trump administration sees the increasing use of Chinese-made active ingredients in drugs taken by U.S. troops and civilians as a national security risk.
China has become the world’s largest supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or API, providing key components to drugmakers worldwide. But a yearlong recall of tainted heart drugs taken by millions of Americans is prompting U.S. national security officials to ask whether China’s growing role in the pharmaceutical supply chain could pose a threat to the health of military personnel.
“The national security risks of increased Chinese dominance of the global API market cannot be overstated,” Christopher Priest, the acting deputy assistant director for health care operations and Tricare for the Defense Health Agency, told a U.S.-China advisory panel last week in Washington.
The Defense Health Agency manages much of the health care of military members, including prescription drugs.
[…]
Larry Wortzel, a member of the U.S.-China commission and a military retiree, said four of his blood-pressure medications were recalled in three months. Wortzel’s pills, versions of a drug called valsartan, were manufactured in India but had active ingredients from China.
“They were contaminated with rocket fuel,” Wortzel said. “I imagine active people have the same problem. This affects the readiness of our troops.”
From China’s grip on pharmaceutical drugs is a national security issue:
There is no single accounting of the percentage of active ingredients in U.S. drugs that are manufactured in China, but it’s significant and growing. The Food and Drug Administration has said approximately 80 percent of active-ingredient manufacturers are located outside the United States, and for some key drugs, China is the only supplier. For instance, China produces the ingredients found in almost every antibiotic and blood pressure medicine and hundreds of other drugs. Thus, China has a virtual monopoly on the ingredients required to manufacture critical medicines.
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Recommended Reading:
China Rx: Exposing The Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine – by Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh
Millions of Americans are taking prescription drugs made in China and don’t know it–and pharmaceutical companies are not eager to tell them.
Several decades ago, penicillin, vitamin C, and many other prescription and over-the-counter products were manufactured in the United States. But with the rise of globalization, antibiotics, antidepressants, birth control pills, blood pressure medicines, cancer drugs, among many others are made in China and sold in the United States. China’s biggest impact on the US drug supply is making essential ingredients for thousands of medicines found in American homes and used in hospital intensive care units and operating rooms. The authors convincingly argue that there are at least two major problems with this scenario. First, it is inherently risky for the United States to become dependent on any one country as a source for vital medicines, especially given the uncertainties of geopolitics. For example, if an altercation in the South China Sea causes military personnel to be wounded, doctors may rely upon medicines with essential ingredients made by the adversary. Second, lapses in safety standards and quality control in Chinese manufacturing are a risk. Citing the concerns of FDA officials and insiders within the pharmaceutical industry, the authors document incidents of illness and death caused by contaminated medications that prompted reform. This probing book examines the implications of our reliance on China on the quality and availability of vital medicines.
Notes.
[1] Here is the straight up automated Chinese to English google translation of the Xinhua article (the translation has errors as it is not human proofed — if anyone has a human proofed translation they can share that would be awesome!) :
Righteous, The World Should Thank China2020-03-04 10:45:32 Source: Huang ShengToday, another state in the United States has declared a state of emergency, and the state of Florida in the United States has declared a state of public health emergency. The governor’s office of Florida has announced that the state has found two confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia and need to wait for further confirmation from the US Centers for Disease Control. The two are being treated in isolation. This is the third state in the United States to declare a state of emergency after California and Washington states. It can be seen that the new crown pneumonia epidemic has shown signs of sparking fire in the United States, and after the first case of new crown pneumonia deaths was announced in the United States yesterday, today There has been one death from neocoronary pneumonia, and a total of two deaths have occurred. However, it is ridiculous that the United States now needs to confirm a new case of new pneumonia in the United States and it needs final review by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is why Florida is very dissatisfied with this. It was declared a state of emergency.
Obviously, the true outbreak of new coronary pneumonia in the United States has been seriously underestimated. The reason is that all confirmed cases must be finally identified by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has made the United States’ data always suspicion worldwide.
As the U.S. crown pneumonia epidemic is getting more and more serious, Trump has also kept coming out to let the Americans not panic, but the actual situation is that Trump is also very anxious. The U.S. vice president responsible for the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is even more Was so nervous, praying for the new crown pneumonia epidemic to pass as soon as possible in the White House office.
At this time, Trump made a big change and began to praise China. At a press conference the day before yesterday, an American reporter asked Trump: “If the new crown pneumonia outbreak in the United States worsens, will the US government consider taking similar measures to China?”
Trump immediately said that he would take some Chinese measures to control the new crown pneumonia, and said that China has made great progress now. We can see that Starbucks has reopened in China, and Apple has fully resumed production in China. China ’s New crown pneumonia prevention and control has indeed made great progress.
Obviously, Trump’s remarks came from the bottom of his heart, and it is also because the role has now changed. China has made significant progress in controlling the new crown pneumonia, but the United States is in a torrential storm. More and more states An emergency was declared, medical supplies in the United States were extremely scarce, and an out-of-control epidemic of new pneumonia was almost inevitable.
The U.S. stock market has plummeted continuously, with a drop of more than 12% in just one week. It has caught up with the big crash during the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. This makes Trump feel like a pinch. Once the U.S. stock market continues to plummet, it will not only affect the U.S. economy but also affect Lampe ’s president is re-elected, and once the new crown pneumonia epidemic continues, Trump ’s throne will face increasing challenges.
If at this time China announced that it would restrict the entry of Americans or people who have been to the United States, and that it would ban the travel of Chinese to the United States, it would actually impose a travel ban on the United States. It plummeted, but China did not.
And everyone should know that when the new crown pneumonia epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Hubei, China, Trump ’s US government first announced the return of Americans from Wuhan, China, causing other countries to follow up, making China very passive at the time.
Not only that, the U.S. government also announced that restricting the entry of Chinese and foreigners who have visited China into the U.S. is actually an indirect declaration of a travel ban on China, which isolates other countries in the world from China, and has a great economic impact on China. of.
These practices in the United States are very unkind. They can be described as falling into the ground and killing people while they are ill. Now China’s new crown pneumonia epidemic has been controlled. Except for Wuhan, new confirmed cases have been added in single digits. But it’s getting worse.
If China retaliates against the United States at this time, in addition to announcing a travel ban on the United States, it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the United States. Then the United States will be caught in the ocean of new crown viruses.
According to the US CDC officials, most masks in the United States are made in China and imported from China. If China bans the export of masks to the United States, the United States will fall into the mask shortage, and the most basic measures to prevent the new crown virus are Can’t do it.
Also according to the US CDC officials, most of the drugs in the United States are imported, and some drugs are imported from Europe. However, Europe also places the production base of these drugs in China, so more than 90% of the US imported drugs are Related to China. The implication is that at this time, as long as China announces that its drugs are as domestic as possible and banned exports, the United States will fall into the hell of the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
However, there is a great love in the world. The Chinese people and the Chinese government have never done so. They have not insulted the United States, nor have they banned the export of masks and medicines to the United States. As China ’s new crown pneumonia epidemic is gradually controlled, China ’s ability to export masks and medicines Will be greatly enhanced, and the United States is one of the demand side. US government officials, such as Secretary of Commerce Rose, US Secretary of State Pompeo, and US White House Economic Adviser Navarro, have publicly gloated over China’s new crown pneumonia epidemic, saying that the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in China is good for the United States and will help companies return to the United States. It also called on companies around the world to consider the risks of China’s supply chain. Even the infamous “Wall Street Journal” published an infamous article “China is a real patient in Asia”, and the “New York Times” in the United States also published a document condemning the closure of Wuhan in China as a violation of human rights. The American culture of falling rocks is really shameless. Today, Feng Shui is taking turns, and the United States has become a victim of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. At this time, China has not fallen into rocks and has not condemned the United States. At this time, the United States should be more mistakes for the past. Apologize to China for your actions.
During this time, a voice deliberately speculated that China owes the world an apology, which is very ridiculous. In order to fight the new crown pneumonia epidemic, China has made huge sacrifices, paid huge economic costs, and cut off the new crown virus. The route of transmission. No country has made such a great sacrifice and effort in this new crown pneumonia epidemic.
Moreover, according to the research of Academician Zhong Nanshan, although the new crown pneumonia epidemic broke out in China, the source may not necessarily be in China. Many studies have also pointed out that the origin of the new crown virus may come from other countries. Many confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in the United States, Italy, Iran and other countries without a history of Asian contact have demonstrated this, so China has no reason to apologize.
Now we should rightfully say that the United States owes China an apology, and the world owes China a gratitude. Without China ’s huge sacrifice and dedication, it would not be possible to win a precious time window for the world to fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The hard-to-find new crown pneumonia epidemic has been blocked for a long time, it is really shocking, crying ghosts!
Editor-in-chief: Zhang Chaohua