Weel…IF we indulge ourselves with a bit of economic warfare conspiracy theory, it MIGHT discourage the West from unlocking, so delaying resumption of economic activity and giving China a bigger edge.
Begs the question as to how they deal with it themselves though.
Maybe they know they aren’t actually very infectious, having had a bit of a head start with the case studies, or maybe they have calculated they have to take the hit anyway and are just trying to extract some relative edge from it.
If this is all part of a big plan by China, Taiwan most definitely has to be part of it. What is the next step then? Or did they miscalculate, anticipating that Taiwan would be hit hard and needing their “help”? Or are they just waiting until the West goes down in real turmoil?
Sure - China probably expected a repeat of SARS circa 2003/2004, hurting HK and Taiwan economies pretty hard. The reality though is, even though HK and Taiwan don’t have the big virus numbers at the moment, in the long term the economy here is gonna hurt pretty bad just from lack of customers, tourism, reduced travel, etc. a few months of that can really add up to massive economic losses that most businesses cannot survive. couple that with external demand dropping and that can really strain the local tech industry.
By “help” I meant “takeover”. Sure, the economy will suffer, but that is not what China would be interested in, is it? If Taiwan would be paralyzed, now that could create an opening to step in.
If you want to argue that this has been intentional you have to come up with a good reason for why it started in Wuhan. So far the lab close to the market makes it likely that it might have been an accidental release. If intentional, it should have been easy to smuggle and release anywhere in the world. Why Wuhan?
As I’m sure yáll are tired of me saying, the lab is an irrelevant distraction that is useful to China (and to President Trump).
It continues to be an irrelevent distraction in the case of a deliberately contrived pandemic. In that scenario it provides cover, helping to make it look like a possible accident.
I’m not sure “If intentional, it should have been easy to smuggle and release anywhere in the world.” is true anyway. I’d bet Sods Law applies powerfully here, and if you released (a non-trivial technical task anyway without a group of pre- infected people as vectors) in just-slightly-less-than ideal conditions, its quite likely it fizzles.
I think I actually got one years ago but disliked it quite a lot. Complete strangers “adding me as a friend” is creepy, somehow, plus I’d think I’d find the required level of public narcissism onerous to sustain.
Beginning today, until June 01, Indonesia has suspended all domestic and international passenger air and sea transportation.
Long distance buses and rail have been stopped. Travel for the religious month of Ramadan and the Lebaran holiday has been forbidden, including by private vehicle.
Commercial cargo, medical and food shipment and humanitarian missions will still operate.
Some of the conspiracies being floating in this thread are ridiculous.
The furious way Beijing responded to the situation in Wuhan should tip you off that they were not at all pleased, to say the least. Their nontransparency and lack of accurate information is not evidence of conspiracy—as Taiwan’s authorities are well aware, that’s just how these guys roll.
