As the Joe Biden-set deadline of the 90-day investigation
into the coronavirus origins draws near, sources told the Global Times
that US intelligence agencies are gearing up their efforts to compile a
report, yet are struggling to find concrete proof to support the "lab
leak" theory, and even its own research institutions and allies believe
the virus was almost certainly not created artificially.
The US attempts to pinpoint China as the origin of
coronavirus by hook or by crook have fueled suspicion on whether the US
is trying to divert attention away from its own biolabs, such as Fort
Detrick.
Foreign Ministry says Washington ‘applying presumption of guilt’
BEIJING: Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that the United States cares nothing about facts or truth, but only about how to exhaust and smear China by launching an investigation over the so-called “lab leak theory” that presumes China is guilty.
`
Zhao made the remark on Wednesday after media reports cited informed sources as saying that the US intelligence agency still intends to release a report that makes up misleading conclusions over Covid-19 origins, despite the lack of concrete proof, and that high-level US officials believe the real purpose is to hype up the origin investigation with the aim of exhausting China’s diplomatic resources and increasing US leverage regarding China.
`
“If the media reports are true, the US report will be a statement of confession that shows that Washington is deliberately applying presumption of guilt,” Zhao told reporters in Beijing.
`
According to the Global Times, Washington is ramping up pressure to coerce international scientists and to rope in allies and World Health Organisation members to smear China over virus origins to beat the 90-day deadline for intelligence officials set by US President Joe Biden.
`
The newspaper said it was told by a source that the US will collude with the European Union, Australia and Japan to issue a statement on the second phase of investigation.
`
The spokesman said that by going all out to smear China, the US is trying to deflect the international community’s attention from Fort Detrick in the US and other bio labs it owns abroad.
`
“What is the US trying to hide?” Zhao said, while also urging the US to clear suspicion over these bio labs’ relation to outbreaks of such diseases such as plague, anthrax and Middle East respiratory syndrome. — China Daily/ANN
, adding that the US should invite the WHO to carry out a COVID-19 origins investigation in the US, particularly at Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina. -- China Daily/ANN
As surging COVID-19 cases in Malaysia disrupted the production of semiconductors and other key components, Chinese experts are suggesting that companies should move certain production lines to the Chinese mainland to ensure the smooth running of their facilities while meeting the huge demand.
`
A manager of a Chinese autonomous driving firm told the Global Times on Wednesday that the new outbreak in Malaysia has already caused major disruptions to the company's chip supplies.
`
"The lead time for chip supplies has been extended to as long as 20 weeks, and we have to pay a skyrocketing price for urgently needed chips," the manager said, "there is no way out. We have to wait for an explosive surge in the supply of semiconductors, and we have no idea how long it will take."
`
Due to continuous supply shortages of master control chips, FAW-Volkswagen Automotive was forced to partially stop production of some Audi models starting from August 12, including the A4L, A6L and Q5L vehicles, according to a notice from the company circulating online on Wednesday.
`
It said that production is projected to resume in the first quarter of 2022.
`
The severity of the global chip shortage has led to a decline in the supply of new cars, driving consumers to shift to used cars. Data from the China Automobile Dealers Association showed that transactions involving used cars hit 8.43 million in China in the first half of 2021, up 52.9 percent year-on-year, approximately 27 percentage points faster than sales of new cars.
`
With the fast spread of the Delta variant, Malaysia continues to grapple with a worsening COVID-19 outbreak. The country had a staggering 19,631 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, local news portal the Star reported, citing its health ministry.
`
With new infections still on the rise, the Malaysian government has ordered many businesses and factories to shut down, affecting production in a wide range of sectors, especially the packing and testing of chips and passive component manufacturing.
`
Dozens of semiconductor companies have facilities in Malaysia, including international giants such as Intel, Infineon Technologies and STMicroelectronics.
`
Malaysia accounts for 13 percent of the global sealing and testing market, and it is the world's seventh-largest semiconductor exporter, according to media reports.
`
Xu Daquan, executive vice president of Bosch (China) Investment, posted on WeChat on Tuesday saying that a chip supplier's factory in Muar, Malaysia had been ordered to extend its closure till August 21, which directly affects its chip supplies such as vehicle control unit, domestic business news portal yicai.com reported.
`
Xu confirmed to the media outlet that the chip company is STMicroelectronics, adding that supply will be basically cut off for the rest of August.
`
CEO of XPeng Motors He Xiaopeng reposted Xu's comment, expressing anxiety over the chip shortage.
`
The company declined to give details when reached by the Global Times on Wednesday.
`
In addition, the production of passive components such as resistors, capacitors and inductors in Malaysia has also been disrupted.
`
Amid the Malaysian government's extended lockdown orders, production at the world's two largest electrolytic capacitor makers - Japan-based Nippon Chemi-con Corp and Nichicon Corp - was halted in July again. The suspension of these production lines in March 2020 caused severe price fluctuations.
`
The extension of Malaysia's restriction order has posed severe challenges for the global multi-layer ceramic capacitor market, with products such as smartphones, servers and 5G base station components expected to be affected, according to a report from TrendForce in July.
`
The supply chain uncertainties in Southeast Asia, along with China's huge demand for semiconductors and other key components, may drive the packing and testing of semiconductors and passive component manufacturing to the Chinese mainland, industry analysts said.
`
Ma Jihua, a veteran telecommunications industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday that chip shortages may be exacerbated due to the raging pandemic overseas and chip hoarding.
`
Possibly, the problem won't be solved until the first half of 2022, Ma said, suggesting that enterprises shift their chip sealing and testing production lines to the Chinese mainland.
A
US soldier (center) points his gun at an Afghan passenger at Kabul
airport on Monday as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport
trying to flee the country. Photo: AFP
The Afghan Taliban have successfully returned to Kabul and are ready to set up a new government while the hasty US retreat, which had caused deaths to locals, makes the end of the 20-year-long war look increasingly embarrassing to the US..
`
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Afghanistan on Monday..
`
Before the Security Council meeting, key US allies including the UK and France who fought the war with the US in the past two decades had expressed their disappointment and concerns, but China and Russia remain calm and cautious in observing the situation..
`
Chinese analysts said to what extent the Taliban could win worldwide recognition depends on how it could implement its commitments, and the failure in Afghanistan could deeply damage the US image as a hegemon.. But the pullout from Afghanistan would make the US bolster its presence in other regions..
`
Washington is still able to export chaos to other countries and regions with the excuse of "values, international orders or human rights" and people worldwide should learn from the current situation in Afghanistan, experts noted..
`
China to be cautious.
`
"China has noticed that the Afghan Taliban said yesterday the war was over, and they vowed to establish through negotiations an open and inclusive Islamic government, and to take responsible actions to ensure the safety of Afghan people and foreign diplomatic personnel," Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a Monday news conference. .
`
Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday that "China needs to stay calm to observe the current situation, because the Taliban have gained an unexpected victory. This does not mean the Taliban have had overwhelming military power to ensure control, but the [Afghan] government's force has lost morale and given up.".
`
The Taliban need to take political responsibility, but considering there are different forces within the Taliban, how to prevent the struggle for power and keep an internal balance, as well as satisfy local tribal forces would be the new challenges for the Taliban, and the risk of chaos still exists, Jin said..
`
Pan Guang, a senior expert on counter-terrorism and Afghan studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that the possibility of a humanitarian crisis is there and if the Taliban failed to restore peace and order, the UN Security Council would have to consider sending UN peacekeeping troops into the region, not just to prevent the country becoming a breeding ground for terrorism, but also to conduct anti-drug missions and other humanitarian work. .
`
"But this needs all five permanent members of the Security Council to be united," Pan noted..
`
Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies in Lanzhou University, said the Afghan Taliban's success in Afghanistan is difficult to duplicate elsewhere, but some terrorist and extremist militia forces in the region, such as the Taliban Movement in Pakistan, as well as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and even ISIS in the Middle East, might believe that they would have the similar chance too..
`
"China and Russia, as well as other partners in the region and under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, are paying attention to the situation to prevent the potential spillover and to strengthen border controls," he noted..
`
Reactions from major powers.
`
Russia was in contact with Taliban officials through its embassy in Kabul, President Vladimir Putin's special representative on Afghanistan said on Monday, a day after the Afghan government collapsed and the capital fell to the Taliban, Reuters reported..
`
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also pointed out that there has been no reaction from Washington to human rights violations in Kabul and the appeals of Afghan citizens for evacuation help at Kabul airport, TASS reported on Monday..
`
The West shows a totally different image compared to those of China and Russia. "World leaders blame Biden, and express disappointment with Afghanistan." This is the headline of a report from Fox News on Monday, as it has listed the negative comments on the US failure from the leaders of some Western major countries, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. .
`
Johnson told Sky News that it was "fair to say the US decision to pull out has accelerated things, but this has in many ways been a chronicle of an event foretold." He urged Western leaders to work together to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a "breeding ground for terrorism." French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to speak on Monday about the situation, while France also sent military aircraft to evacuate its nationals from the country..
`
The different attitudes between the West and non-Western major powers prove that those who closely followed the US in the Afghan war have felt the pain and shared the US feeling of failure. But China and Russia, which didn't follow the military actions, could be more flexible to deal with the dramatic change, Zhu said..
`
The Xinhua News Agency published on Monday a commentary entitled, "The 'fall of Kabul' rings the funeral bell of US hegemony." .
`
The article said the US can simply leave but it has left Afghan people with endless pain. In the past 20 years, more than 30,000 civilians had been killed directly or indirectly by US forces, and more than 60,000 had been injured, with 11 million refugees. This proves that the US is the biggest exporter of chaos in the world, and its hegemony has caused too many tragedies. .
`
Chinese experts said the end of the war in Afghanistan has deeply damaged the image of the US as a hegemon, and in the future, if the US decides to launch military actions elsewhere with the excuse of "democracy, values, human rights or rules-based order," very few countries would keep following it, or they would just send very few troops to reluctantly fulfill the relevant alliance treaty..
`
"But when the US withdrew from Vietnam in 1970s, it pulled itself out of a mess, which gave it more resources to do more in other regions. So the US global influence remains powerful," Xiao He, an expert from the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday..
MAN and nature are running out of time. That’s the core message of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released this week.
`
UN secretary-general António Guterres called the report a “code red for humanity”. “The evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.”
`
What can we, individually and collectively, do about it?
`
Many animals and human beings cannot survive at high temperatures. Seattle, a temperate climate city, hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit in June, only four degrees below the maximum 108 degrees where humans can’t survive.
`
Like the pandemic, the twin effects of climate warming and biodiversity loss are hurting the bottom half of society who are most vulnerable to natural and/or man-made disasters.
`
Indeed, indigenous and native people who live closest to nature, comprising 5%-6% of world population scattered in remote areas, are likely to face loss of culture, lives and habitat because all their water, food and livelihoods will be devastated by climate change.
`
In essence, we are in an existential situation whereby nature is being destroyed by human excess consumption, which creates pollution and carbon emission, but all this is made possible by monetary creation by bankers and businesses who seem to care more about their profits than the human condition.
`
Thus, decisions over climate change, human activities, financialisation and globalisation are essentially moral questions over the power to lead us out of the wilderness of nuclear destruction through war or planetary burning.
`
In his monumental “History of Western Philosophy” (1946), British philosopher Bertrand Russell argued that those in power understand that they have twin powers over nature and political power to rule other human beings.
`
Traditionally, the limits to such power have been God and truth. But today, religions are also in turmoil on what is their role in finding pathways out of the current mess. Furthermore, FakeNews obscures what is truth.
`
The current mess is not unlike the Lost People wandering in the desert waiting for Moses to find the 21st century version of the 10 Commandments. Unfortunately, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are aspirations and not commandments.
`
As economists say, climate change is a market failure, but there is no modern day Moses nor operating manuals to translate SDGs to environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects and programmes for businesses, governments and social institutions.
`
In this twin injustices against man and nature, people sense that there is both a moral vacuum in globalised modernity, as well as lack of a shared, practical pathway out of planetary destruction. If secular science or politics cannot help us, is religion the solution?
`
Ironically, religion has played a far larger role in the current quandary than meets the eye.
`
Two papal bulls empowered the Portuguese and Spanish conquests of new land in the second half of the 15th century. Papal bulls are public decrees, letters patent or charters issued by a Catholic pope.
`
The Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex issued by Pope Nicholas V in 1455 gave Portuguese King Alfonso the right to “invade, search out, capture, vanquish and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ whatsoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery... to convert them to his profit... [such assets becoming] justly and lawfully acquired.”
`
The Papal Bull Inter Caetera, issued after Christopher Columbus returned from America in 1493, not only reinforced the Spanish right to property and slavery seized or colonised from non-Christian kingdoms or pagan natives, but also established the Doctrine of Discovery.
`
This doctrine formed the basis of national and later international laws that gave licence to explorers to claim vacant land (terra nullius) on discovery. Vacant land meant land not populated by Christians, and thus the Christian discoverers and occupiers could have legal title to them, regardless of the rights of the indigenous people.
`
In short, historically it was the Church that gave the moral blessing for colonisation, slavery and genocide during the Age of Globalisation. The tragedy is that the Doctrine of Discovery is now embodied in US laws.
`
In the historic case of Johnson vs McIntosh (1823), Supreme Court Justice John Marshall ruled: “According to every theory of property, the Indians had no individual rights to land; nor had they any collectively, or in their national capacity; for the lands occupied by each tribe were not used by them in such a manner as to prevent their being appropriated by a people of cultivators. All the proprietary rights of civilised nations on this continent are founded on this principle. The right delivered from discovery and conquest, can rest on no other basis; and all existing titles depend on the fundamental title of the crown by discovery.”
`
If humanity still treats nature as a free asset to be mastered, and other human beings to be dominated and disenfranchised because of the Doctrine of Discovery, how can we move forward morally to create human inclusivity and planetary justice?
`
Under secular science, the elites that control the media, military, economy, political or social institutions have forgotten that they are not masters of man and nature, but stewards to protect human well being and nature for future generations.
`
In this polarised age, we forget that the shamans of the indigenous people carry ancient wisdoms about how to live with nature and each other through traditional values, medicine and shared rituals. The shamans are not seers but healers and carriers of tribal memories and values.
`
When modern scientists and technocrats have no solutions to present problems except more speed, scale and scope in the rush to modernity, isn’t it time to listen to traditional wisdoms from those who have living but dying memories of how to live with nature and each other?
`
Without moral bearings, no wonder we have no maps out of the current mess.
Many people like China's spokesman, Zhao Lijian, for his explicit remarks. We think Qin Gang is a pro version of Zhao Lijian. As the new ambassador to the US, Mister Qin Gang is not a wolf warrior. Instead, he is a Kongfu Panda, lovely and strong. We hope his mission to the US will be a turning point in the relationship between the two superpowers.
Elephant dads' dedicate lives to protecting needy giants
`
Today marks the 10th World Elephant Day, a special occasion to raise public awareness about the protection of the much loved giants. In southwest China's Yunnan Province, a group of dedicated men are trying their best to help the endangered animals. CGTN has the story about so-called "elephant dads." #Elephant #Animal
Cute elephant herd! Turning on faucet and drinking water by turns, snoozing in the fields, the migrating parade of wild Asian elephants wandering for 15 months in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province has become new internet celebrities.
Workers are busy at a chip factory in Suqian, East China's Jiangsu Province in July 2021. Photo: cnsphoto
By 
