Nuclear War, Germ War, Bio War, Chem War, WMD

[G M]

our enemies
taking advantage of and flaming our domestic political problems

sometime soon we may look like those scenes in War of the Worlds were society just falls apart

It has fallen apart. Just running on inertia now.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://washingtontimes-dc.newsmemory.com/?token=bae9e860486c225ccfb13c91df6a0252_60929c0b_6d25b5f&selDate=20210505&goTo=B03&artid=0&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=washingtontimes-E-Editions&utm_source=washingtontimes&utm_content=Read-Button

[Crafty_Dog]

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Mysterious Origins Of COVID-19 Raise Some Alarming Possibilities
hanson-covid-20210617
Sipa USA
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
CONTRIBUTOR
June 17, 2021
9:43 AM ET
FONT SIZE:

For over a year, the American establishment and media have ostracized anyone who dared to connect the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Then, suddenly and without apologies for their past demagoguery, “journalists” and “experts” conceded that the Wuhan lab may well have been the most likely genesis.

Why the abrupt change?

For one thing, Donald Trump is no longer president.

There is now no need for progressives to declare everything that Trump once asserted as truth to be a lie. That includes Trump’s insistence that the Wuhan lab, not a wet market full of sliced-up bats, was the source of the outbreak.

The recent release of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s emails, along with new information about the gain-of-function research, make it clear that U.S. taxpayer dollars were being funneled to the Chinese for coronavirus research in Wuhan.

So now what?

We are left with a number of lose-lose scenarios regarding China’s efforts to lie about the origins of COVID-19.

Will China continually deny what is appearing to be undeniable? Perhaps. We should remember that this is a country with a Communist Party hierarchy that once killed many millions of its own citizens under Mao Zedong, and with a current apparat that has put 1 million Muslim Uyghurs into internment camps.

A stonewalling China likely will conclude that the risk of appearing guilty for causing one of the greatest “natural” global disasters in a century is not nearly as destructive to its interests as admitting it.
Will China then wait us out, denying the obvious facts, until weary Americans move onto another of their media frenzies?

Or, could China confess that the virus was birthed in the Wuhan lab but claim its appearance was a “joint” effort with the United States? The Chinese could insist that combined efforts with the U.S. were aimed at finding a “cure” for coronavirus epidemics, and thus China should not be blamed — or at least not solely blamed.

China could claim that it, too, was misled by its own sloppy researchers. It might even assert that its prior code of silence was meant to shield the role of U.S. funders of what turned into a pandemic disaster.

Americans then would end up wondering to what degree our own doctors and institutions not only lied to us throughout the crisis but, in some bizarre way, may have shared responsibility for engineering the virus.

Or, Chinese officials could privately wink and nod to our intelligence and military communities that their researchers were in fact pursuing “legitimate” viral gain-of-function research when a terrible Chernobyl-like accident took place. They might unofficially remind our officials that such things have also happened at Bhopal, Three Mile Island and Fukushima.

In back channels, Beijing might express regret over the resulting global economic catastrophe, the millions dead, the even more millions sickened, the billions of lives harmed by the lockdown, and the 2020-2021 American political, economic, social and cultural meltdown.

China additionally might lament its “mistaken” lack of transparency and the “confusion” that accounted for misleading the world. And yet, China would still smile and promise off the record that such an unforeseen disaster would never, ever happen again.

We tend to block out the unthinkable. It’s possible more information could leak out that the virus was a weaponized creation of civilian virologists and the Chinese military. How the virus escaped would not be clear, but millions the world over would suspect the worst of any involvement of the Chinese military.
In all these scenarios, we are left with the suspicion that an embryonic engineered virus was mysteriously released, doing more damage to the Western world than any weapon deliberately employed since World War II. And we will become terrified that it could happen again. More importantly, we still have no idea what to do: whether to act in a punitive or deterrent fashion, or both or neither.

Washington strategists are no doubt gaming all these rumors and unthinkables.

Many Americans are naively hopeful that COVID-19 was a one-off, laboratory accident. But some are terrified that it was a proto-bioweapon that, regardless of whether it was accidentally released, became a “never let a crisis go to waste” moment.

Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness.

[DougMacG]

quote author=Crafty_Dog
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Mysterious Origins Of COVID-19 Raise Some Alarming Possibilities
hanson-covid-20210617


Prof. Hanson is so good that I hate to pull out pieces for comment when it is the whole piece that makes the point.  But, two small (?) points:

He mentions one million Uyghurs held in internment camps.  If this is accepted fact, couldn't the world, led by Pres. Biden, boycott the Olympics on a condition, free the Uyghurs, and actually effect change?

In one of the possible scenarios, "a terrible Chernobyl-like accident took place".

Interesting point.  Chernobyl taught us nothing we didn't already know about nuclear energy safety.  What it taught us was that autocratic, totalitarian, dictatorships have the worst safety and environmental practices and results on earth, meaning that moving in that direction does not make us safer or cleaner.

What say China envier Thomas Friedman NYT about origins of Covid?  Big powerful autocratic government had all the ownership and 'regulatory' power to keep this from happening with any level of safeguards they wanted - and they didn't.  Just like Chernobyl.

[G M]

https://defensivetraininggroup.blogspot.com/2021/06/miles-guo-20-june-2021-warning-to-west.html

[G M]

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2021/06/28/report-china-discussed-making-bioweapons-targeting-specific-races-n1457765

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17191/china-what-to-do-about-it?fbclid=IwAR1oE1Bwc6UkhNaBwKgqjUflttHcvJwNsCUO0s-2ppQL1I3P4elotcWOdJk

An important read. China plays the long game, and plays to win.

Yes.

"If you want to find the largest collection of genetic information of Americans, you do not go to America. You go to Beijing."

  - Wake . Up. People.  The communist regime of China is not your friend and is not an innocent storefront on the edge of tbe Pacific. The Hitler analogies fail because China is so much more powerful.

https://visiontimes.com/2020/10/07/a-chinese-defector-exposes-beijings-bioweapons-program.html

In May, a senior U.S. official revealed that China was working on developing bioweapons that can target people based on their ethnicity. He expressed worries that Beijing might conduct biological experiments on ethnic minorities. China has even admitted to such a possibility. Back in 2017, a publication released by the Chinese military categorized biology as a new warfare domain. It also suggested that future wars could involve genetic attacks.

In 1972, leaders from more than 180 nations established the biological weapons convention according to which the development of such weapons was banned. However, there are serious concerns that several countries are not abiding by the restrictions. At least 6 nations are believed to be currently invested in bioweapon programs — China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Iraq, and Libya. In 2015, U.S. intelligence classified gene editing as a potential weapon of mass destruction. The fact that you can create viruses that only affect specific races or ethnicities makes such weapons even scarier.

[Crafty_Dog]

YES!!!!!!!!!

I posted a clip some years back of a Chinese scientist discussing exactly this in Mandarin (i.e. he/they thought outsiders would not hear/understand) with subtitles.  When I went back for a it some months ago it had been deleted.

LET's STAY ON THIS.

[G M]

YES!!!!!!!!!

I posted a clip some years back of a Chinese scientist discussing exactly this in Mandarin (i.e. he/they thought outsiders would not hear/understand) with subtitles.  When I went back for a it some months ago it had been deleted.

LET's STAY ON THIS.

https://rumble.com/vit28b-chinese-researcher-talks-about-creating-bioweapons-to-target-certain-geneti.html

[Crafty_Dog]

GREAT FIND.

This could be the same guy as the one in the long clip I reference, but here he is more coy.

[G M]

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-isnt-us-preparing-emp-war-rest-world

[Crafty_Dog]

China’s Nuclear Silos and the Arms-Control Fantasy
The Cold War is over, and Beijing is determined to amass an arsenal worthy of a superpower.
By Matthew Kroenig
July 7, 2021 6:17 pm ET
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New satellite images published recently reveal that China is building more than 100 new nuclear missile silos in its western desert. Many American arms-control proponents, including the researchers who made the discovery and the Washington Post editorial board, immediately blamed China’s actions on U.S. nuclear modernization plans and recommended that Washington make an arms-control deal with China to address this nuclear threat. This is both the wrong diagnosis and the wrong solution.

China is engaging in a massive nuclear-arms buildup as part of its broader strategy to challenge the U.S.-led rules-based international system, and the U.S. will need to respond by updating its nuclear program to defend itself and the free world.

For decades, China possessed a modest nuclear arsenal of a few hundred weapons. Unlike the U.S. and the Soviet Union, China never built a large nuclear arsenal during the Cold War, because the country’s nuclear doctrine promised never to use nuclear weapons first and called for a minimal force capable of retaliating against enemy attack.

U.S. defense strategists, however, long feared that China would eventually try to compete with the U.S. nuclear arsenal. They believed that as China became a geopolitical superpower, its leaders would eventually pursue a superpower nuclear arsenal.

That is exactly what we are seeing today. The new missile silos in the desert are part of a Chinese nuclear buildup that includes new submarines, bombers, and ballistic and hypersonic missiles. U.S. defense officials, including Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Charles A. Richard, have publicly testified that China’s nuclear arsenal will double, if not triple or quadruple, within the decade. This buildup could make China a nuclear peer with the U.S. and Russia, which each maintain no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear weapons, per New Start Treaty limits.

China’s buildup threatens all major U.S. defense and deterrence goals. It makes it harder for the Pentagon to deter Chinese strategic attacks and coercion and to maintain a favorable balance of power and assure allies in the Indo-Pacific.


This means that for the first time in history, the U.S. will have to contend with two adversaries with substantial nuclear arsenals. Sizing the U.S. nuclear force for parity with Russia and treating China as a lesser power will no longer work.

The arms-control proponents say we should not panic and that these new silos are meant only to ensure that China’s nuclear weapons can survive a U.S. nuclear first strike. They say the solution is arms-control talks with Beijing.

This doesn’t make sense. The U.S. has drastically cut the size of its nuclear arsenal since the end of the Cold War, and President Biden has promised to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. national-security policy. If Beijing were worried about a U.S. first strike, it would put nuclear weapons on mobile missiles and submarines, which are harder for the Pentagon to find and destroy. China’s new fixed silos, in contrast, are relatively easy targets, but they do improve China’s ability to threaten a first strike against its opponents.

Arms-control talks with China, attempted unsuccessfully during both the Obama and Trump administrations, are unlikely to work any better for Mr. Biden. China’s nuclear buildup is intended to undermine U.S. defenses in the Indo-Pacific, break America’s regional alliances, and project China as a superpower.

To counter this challenge, the U.S. will need to strengthen its nuclear arsenal. It should continue with the bipartisan plans to modernize U.S. nuclear weapons. In addition, the Pentagon should study whether it can meet its deterrence requirements with existing stockpile numbers, or whether an increase beyond New Start limits is necessary.

Arms control can be pursued, but we have to be realistic. China has no history of negotiating constraints on its nuclear forces and it is unlikely to start now, during a massive expansion of its program.

Since the end of World War II, America’s nuclear forces have been the backbone of the U.S. alliance system and the rules-based international system. China is building new nuclear forces to tear those systems down. By strengthening its arsenal, the U.S. can fend off China’s challenge and provide the free world with continued peace and stability.

Mr. Kroenig is a professor of government at Georgetown and the deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center. He served as a senior policy adviser for nuclear and missile-defense policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 2017-21.

[ccp]

".New satellite images published recently reveal that China is building more than 100 new nuclear missile silos in its western desert."

will this not lead to India following suit?

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/08/chinas-new-missile-fields-are-just-part-pla-rocket-forces-growth/184442/

[Crafty_Dog]

https://washingtontimes-dc.newsmemory.com/?token=eb4f952e15b4d3f75ef5ccf30bf118fe_6141f443_6d25b5f&selDate=20210915

[Crafty_Dog]

https://michaelyon.locals.com/upost/1143400/china-conducted-biological-attack-on-the-world

[Crafty_Dog]

https://notthebee.com/article/china-spent-105-million-on-pcr-tests-just-months-before-first-confirmed-covid-case-?utm_source=jeeng

[ccp]

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/oct/6/us-cutting-nuclear-warhead-stockpile-despite-major/

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/us/politics/china-genetic-data-collection.html

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/chinas-military-declares-biotechnology-warfare-fundamental-guiding-principle/?fbclid=IwAR1KmNwBvY8huJfjflpjHeUdvOzRlmKTucRp-KCnYHW_6KYlPC3J8WK5zZM

[ccp]

can't pull up NYT article
not about to subscribe

[Crafty_Dog]

U.S. Warns of Efforts by China to Collect Genetic Data
The National Counterintelligence and Security Center said American companies needed to better secure critical technologies as Beijing seeks to dominate the so-called bioeconomy.



Chinese gene firm BGI Group building in Beijing, in March. It developed a neonatal genetic test with the Chinese military that had enabled it to collect information from millions of people around the world.
Chinese gene firm BGI Group building in Beijing, in March. It developed a neonatal genetic test with the Chinese military that had enabled it to collect information from millions of people around the world.Credit...Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
Julian E. Barnes
By Julian E. Barnes
Oct. 22, 2021
BETHESDA, Md. — Chinese firms are collecting genetic data from around the world, part of an effort by the Chinese government and companies to develop the world’s largest bio-database, American intelligence officials reported on Friday.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center said in a new paper that the United States needed to better secure critical technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and other technologies related to the so-called bioeconomy.

China and other countries are trying to dominate these technologies, and are using both legal and illegal means to acquire American know how, said Michael Orlando, the acting director of the counterintelligence center, an arm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The American private sector has long been in the cross hairs of China and other countries trying to steal American technology and intellectual property. Other countries like Russia also remain a threat, but the economic might of China makes it the biggest threat, officials said.

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China believes dominating these areas will give it an economic edge, and American companies are also investing heavily. Artificial intelligence and machine learning hold the promise to revolutionize many aspects of life, including military operations. Quantum computing will allow countries to break the toughest encryption that exists today, and semiconductors are vital not just for computers but many consumer products.

But officials are now also stressing the intersection of technology and genetic and biological research as an area of competition and espionage. Edward You, who is the national counterintelligence officer for emerging and disruptive technologies, said the Chinese government was collecting medical, health and genetic data around the world. The country that builds the best database of information will have an edge on developing cures for future pandemics, and China already has an advantage, he said.

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Beijing has a track record of misusing genetic data, the counterintelligence center said, citing a 2019 New York Times report on how China uses genetic tests to track members of the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim minority group.

Citing a Reuters report, Mr. You said a Chinese company, BGI, had developed a neonatal genetic test with the Chinese military that had enabled it to collect information from millions of people around the world. The firm gained a foothold in the United States in 2013, when it purchased an American genomics firm.

BGI now has contracts and partnerships with health institutions across the United States, intelligence officials said. The company provides cheap genomic sequencing and gets access to genomic data. Last year, the Commerce Department penalized some of the company’s subsidiaries for providing genetic analysis that was used in Beijing’s campaign against the Uyghurs.

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Mr. You said as a result the genetic data of some Americans could be “transferred to the Chinese government.”

The counterintelligence center also highlighted investments by WuXi, which bought a Pfizer manufacturing plant in China, announced a production facility in Massachusetts and made an investment in 2015 in 23andMe, the consumer genetics company.

“They are developing the world’s largest bio database,” Mr. You said of the Chinese government efforts. “Once they have access to your genetic data, it’s not something you can change like a pin code.”


Image
People purchasing DNA kits at the 23andMe booth at the RootsTech annual genealogical event in Salt Lake City in 2019.
People purchasing DNA kits at the 23andMe booth at the RootsTech annual genealogical event in Salt Lake City in 2019.Credit...George Frey/Reuters
But 23andMe said that fears of China stealing its data were misplaced.

WuXi has a less than 1 percent investment in 23andMe and has never received any customer data, Jacquie Cooke Haggarty, the company’s deputy general counsel, said in a statement. No data has ever been shared with a Chinese-owned company and no investor has access to the data, she said.

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“All of our testing is performed and has always been performed in U.S.-based laboratories,” she said.

The company also said it stored information about names and contact information separate from its genetic data. The company follows the highest encryption standards and tests its defenses daily, she said.

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Mr. Orlando said he was not arguing for decoupling the Chinese and American economies, but said the center was trying to warn companies of the risks of working with Chinese firms under the strict control of the government in Beijing.

“We aren’t telling people to decouple, but if you are going to do business in China, be smart about it,” Mr. Orlando said.

Though China is seeking a broad array of commercial data, the biggest threat is to the high-tech industries Beijing has said it wants to dominate in the decades to come.

American and European officials have long said China steals intellectual property, makes cheaper versions of products, puts western competitors out of business, and then dominates the market. That is a pattern China has followed in solar panels, for example.

“These technologies are critical and we cannot let what happened to other industries happen here,” Mr. Orlando said.

In recent years, the F.B.I. and the counterintelligence center have stepped up broad warnings to businesses and universities about Chinese attempts to steal American technology. Some of those overtures have been greeted skeptically, particularly at universities that believe the U.S. government may be trying to limit the number of Chinese students that study at American universities.

While the U.S. government can review many acquisitions of American companies by Chinese ones, other Chinese investments are harder to regulate. Mr. Orlando said an American company partnering with a Chinese one should take steps to protect its data.

“It’s all about the data,” Mr. You said. “There are national security implications we have to understand.”

Julian E. Barnes is a national security reporter based in Washington, covering the intelligence agencies. Before joining The Times in 2018, he wrote about security matters for The Wall Street Journal. @julianbarnes • Facebook

A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 23, 2021, Section A, Page 9 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Warns of Plan by the Chinese to Collect Genetic Data From Around the World. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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[Crafty_Dog]

https://notthebee.com/article/gulp-a-top-us-general-says-the-country-has-a-lot-of-catching-up-to-do-to-chinas-incredibly-aggressive-missile-program?utm_source=jeeng

[Crafty_Dog]

https://patriotpost.us/articles/84738-is-nuclear-power-in-our-future-2021-12-08?mailing_id=6330&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.6330&utm_campaign=digest&utm_content=body

[Crafty_Dog]

https://amgreatness.com/2021/12/21/mixed-messaging-from-u-s-government-on-chinas-biological-weapons-program/

====================
====================

New’ Chinese Military Paper on Weaponizing Coronaviruses—West Should Respond With Defensive Decoupling and End to STEM Cooperation With China
Anders Corr
Anders Corr
 May 9, 2021 Updated: June 2, 2021 biggersmaller Print
Commentary

On May 7, The Australian revealed the existence of a Chinese military paper from 2015 that discusses the weaponization of SARS coronaviruses. COVID-19 is the disease caused by a SARS coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.

Given 6.9 million COVID-19 deaths globally and counting, such military-scientific musings are the height of irresponsibility and should be decisively countered through new sanctions against China’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) researchers.

In the paper, Chinese military scientists and senior Chinese “public health” officials predict that World War III, if it comes, will be decided by new biological weapons. We are no longer in the age of gunpowder or nuclear weapons. The future of war is biological, they argue.

The document is consistent with significant prior evidence of offensive Chinese biowarfare research that can access technologies such as gene-editing and viral “gain-of-function” (GOF) processes. Chinese military researchers have also shown an interest in bioweapon genetic targeting. A specific ethnic genetic attack technology would be a biological weapon that targets a specific ethnicity. Gene-editing, such as CRISPR technology, could facilitate such targeting.

GOF produces new viruses that are more transmissible and lethal than their progenitors, for example, the use of an avian influenza virus to evolve, in the lab, to a virus that can infect humans. If China can put these technologies together, and has the will to do so, it could design a killer virus that only infects a particular race that China considers to be an enemy.

As recently as June 2020, the U.S. Department of State (DoS) expressed concern (pdf) that China was violating the Biological [and Toxin] Weapons Convention (BWC or BTWC) of 1984 through research into dual-use technologies. In 2005, DoS alleged that “China maintains some elements of an offensive [biological weapons] capability in violation of its BTWC obligations.” DoS made similar charges in 2010, 2012, and 2014. The 2019 report stated that “information indicates that the People’s Republic of China engaged during the reporting period in biological activities with potential dual-use applications, which raises concerns regarding its compliance with the BWC.”

The 2020 report was more specific, about “compliance concerns with respect to Chinese military medical institutions’ toxin research and development because of the potential dual-use applications and their potential as a biological threat,” and stated that China had an offensive biological warfare (BW) program from the early 1950s to at least the late 1980s. The report noted that China hadn’t acknowledged the BW program, or provided evidence of its dismantling.

The newly discovered Chinese military paper is titled “The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons.” Eighteen authors at the highest levels of China’s military and academic hierarchy wrote the 263-page paper. It was obtained by DoS in May 2020 and independently authenticated by digital forensics specialist Robert Potter. Additional details of the paper will be published in Sharri Markson’s September book on the origins of COVID-19, “What Really Happened in Wuhan” (HarperCollins).

The Chinese military study describes SARS coronaviruses as providing a basis for a “new era of genetic weapons,” according to its authors, that can be “artificially manipulated into an emerging human disease virus, then weaponized and unleashed in a way never seen before.”

It claims that “following developments in other scientific fields, there have been major advances in the delivery of biological agents.” It continues, “For example, the new-found ability to freeze-dry micro-organisms has made it possible to store biological agents and aerosolize them during attacks.”

Epoch Times Photo
The P4 laboratory (L) on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on May 27, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
The document notes that a sudden flood of patients into hospitals during a biological weapons attack “could cause the enemy’s medical system to collapse.”

In the study, the Chinese military examines optimal conditions for the release of a biological weapon.

“Bioweapon attacks are best conducted during dawn, dusk, night or cloudy weather because intense sunlight can damage the pathogens,” according to the document. “Biological agents should be released during dry weather. Rain or snow can cause the aerosol particles to precipitate. A stable wind direction is desirable so that the aerosol can float into the target area.”

Analysts are increasingly wary of China’s biowarfare programs, and potential leakage of U.S. and allied STEM research that could serve as enablers.

“Chinese military researchers have closely examined American initiatives and international advancements, which have seemed to inform and inspire the direction of developments underway in China today,” according to Elsa Kania at the Center for a New American Security, and consultant Wilson VornDick. “So too, at a time when Chinese universities and enterprises are pursuing investment and expanding global research collaborations in such fields, it is important that their foreign partners remain cognizant of the interests and involvements of their counterparts.

“For instance, although biomedical research involves numerous promising applications in medicine and therapeutics, there are also reasons for concern about some of the ethical and security externalities of these research engagements.”

In another article on the weaponization of biotech, Kania and VornDick warn that “the lack of transparency and uncertainty of ethical considerations in China’s research initiatives raise the risks of technological surprise.”

My read: Watch out for a surprise bioattack from China.

Given revelations about the latest Chinese biowarfare paper, along with China’s criminal behavior related to COVID-19, genocide against the Uyghurs, highly aggressive military stance toward the United States and allies, national strategy of civil-military fusion, dangerous new technologies of gene-targeting, and facile theft of foreign technology, one must conclude that the United States and allies should act more decisively to defend ourselves.

The Chinese military, and the exploding economy from which it acquires strength, both depend upon STEM and trade that they obtain from the United States and allies. Continued STEM cooperation with China should therefore be immediately suspended. Decreasing imports from China would impose a logical consequence, and send a message, by constricting their economy.

Until China demonstrates a significant improvement in its ethics and transparency, cooperation with China’s STEM academics and business people, including STEM undergraduates, graduate students, professors, and scientists, should be banned by law in the United States, the European Union, Japan, India, Brazil, and among our broader circles of allies.

Epoch Times Photo
President Donald Trump signs trade sanctions against China in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on March 22, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
But if we sanction China’s STEM, make sure it doesn’t simply flow elsewhere, or advance in isolation beyond allied science. Regulation of science in China is generally less demanding, and so China’s military science could progress at a faster rate than allied science, through for example unethical forms of human experimentation. Note that five clinical trials of CRISPR gene-editing technologies are currently underway at China’s military hospitals.

STEM sanctions against China should have been implemented in 2005, when DoS first found evidence of an offensive biological weapons capability in violation of the BWC. Continuing to cooperate more than 15 years later, when China’s STEM research can be used to build offensive biological weapons that likely target the United States and allies, is irresponsible and unethical.

Knowing that China’s intentions are in part illegal or even genocidal should make those who transfer STEM, willingly or unwillingly, culpable and criminally negligent.

Let’s not wait for a surprise bioattack. Shut down China’s bioweapons programs now, by defensively decoupling from, and thereby minimizing, the country’s STEM infrastructure. Add maximum economic and political pressure, to nudge China toward much-needed democratization. Only when the country democratizes should we allow it back into the international system.

Playing Mr. Nice Guy and tip-toeing around existential threats to America and democracy from genocidal technologies through elision, euphemism, technocratic language, and an illogical belief in political change in Beijing through the self-serving economic and scientific engagement of individuals and corporations, is no longer acceptable. We need the United States and allies to defensively decouple, and quickly.

Anders Corr has a bachelor’s/master’s in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc., publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. He authored “The Concentration of Power” (forthcoming in 2021) and “No Trespassing,” and edited “Great Powers, Grand Strategies.”

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Anders Corr
Anders Corr
Following
Anders Corr has a bachelor's/master's in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc., publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. His latest books are “The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy, and Hegemony” (2021) and “Great Powers, Grand Strategies: the New Game in the South China Sea" (2018).

[Crafty_Dog]

China’s Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction Against the World
Bradley A. Thayer
Bradley A. Thayer
 December 22, 2021 Updated: December 22, 2021 biggersmaller Print
Commentary

Nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons were considered weapons of mass destruction (WMD) during the Cold War. Later, radiological weapons were generally considered to be another form of WMD.

Each of these weapons had a horrific effect: they could kill large numbers of people and so norms prohibiting their use were established and have mostly held. Nuclear weapons have not been used since 1945, and biological weapons not used since the Japanese military’s Unit 731 employed them in China against civilians and other allied prisoners of war during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).

While chemical weapons were used in Syria’s civil war, there has not been widespread use of chemicals or toxins in interstate warfare since World War I and Italy’s employment in Ethiopia in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War from 1935 to 1936. Despite allegations of their use and their considerable stockpiles, WMD were not used by the superpowers during the Cold War or after.

Each of these examples was conscious and deliberate employment by a state. But the world should also consider the effect of covert or inadvertent use of WMD, or employment due to negligence and, thus, a violation of a state’s duty to police its territory and its responsibility for what occurs within its borders.

These forms of WMD use should also be prohibited with the strongest sanctions enacted if the norm is violated. It is time to update the world’s understanding of WMD to acknowledge that WMD have been employed de facto and without repercussions. One example of this was the 1979 anthrax leak from a military research facility in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) in the Soviet Union. Over 66 Soviet citizens were killed by their own government and scores more made ill. The Soviets were never held to account for this inadvertent WMD use. Nor were they for another, more infamous case—the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The legacy of which remains.

Despite common perception, WMDs are being used now against the United States by China. Beijing has conducted a current and far more disastrous use of WMD than the United States’ Soviet enemy.

Opioid Epidemic

First, the opioid epidemic has killed and disrupted the lives of tens of millions in the United States alone. Rather than an epidemic, it should be considered a chemical weapons attack. Precursor chemicals are shipped from China to the cartels to Mexico to be transported into the United States and around the world. The Chinese regime, firms, and the cartels should be held to account for employment of WMD. Immediate sanctions and other punishments should be employed against them and China itself for its unwillingness to police its territory, govern its export, and thus provide implicit approval of WMD use against America.

Second Largest Border Meth Bust in History

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa commercial facility seized more than 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine, fentanyl powder, fentanyl pills, and heroin on Oct. 9, 2020. (DEA)
COVID-19

Second, the COVID-19 pandemic is a case of covert or inadvertent use of WMD by the Chinese regime against its own citizens, the United States, and the rest of the world. Thus far, over 5 million people have died, millions have lasting health effects from the virus, tens of millions more have been made ill, and there has been major and sustained disruption to people’s lives, wellbeing, mental health, safety, education, and employment. Profound and lasting political, psychological, physiological, and economic effects also must be factored into account.

The Chinese regime has gotten away with two major uses of WMD with catastrophic effects on the world without penalty or even acknowledgment of WMD employment. Such use compels sanctions and sterner measures to punish Beijing and to deter future use. Regrettably, this has not happened due to the absence of awareness and the concern by many with an interest in China that these actions not be recognized for what they are.

The unwillingness to perceive the Chinese regime’s actions as WMD employment allows the continuation of the business as usual approach toward the regime by its supporters around the world, in the American elite, including on Wall Street, the U.S. political system, and the media.

To acknowledge communist China’s use of WMD would compel the recognition that it is the world’s most dangerous regime due to its intent and capabilities, as well as the world’s greatest violator of international law and norms.

To address this, much needs to be accomplished. Three steps must be taken forthwith.

First, the global media must call them for what they are: WMD attacks against civilians. This stark fact must be repeated until the world identifies these as WMD attacks that require a response.

Second, rather than focusing solely on nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons use, the norm of WMD effect and consequence must be adopted by governments, inter-governmental organizations like the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations, and China held to account by them for its use of WMD. If a state releases a pandemic by design or not, it has employed a WMD against the world, and so is culpable for the consequences and must be punished to deter future use.

Third, the U.S. government should call the attacks as WMD and trigger the full force of the government to combat the consequences of both attacks. The opioid WMD attack should be treated with equivalent energy of response as the COVID-19 WMD attack. Sanctions must be imposed upon the regime for their use against the United States and reparations made to the world’s victims. Compensation from Chinese assets in the United States and globally would be a start. The prohibition of investment in China by U.S. or other entities would be a second step. Banning Chinese entities from U.S. financial or other markets would be a third.

Strong measures are needed as not sanctioning Beijing for its WMD violations encourages it to continue its actions and to break additional norms, including against nuclear use. The Chinese regime owes the world compensation and the international community is going to have to compel payment of the debt.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

[Crafty_Dog]

China’s Cooperation With Russia Puts Future Nuclear Arms Control in Doubt
Chinese regime's nuclear arsenal is rapidly growing
Joseph V. Micallef
Joseph V. Micallef
 January 22, 2022 Updated: January 22, 2022biggersmaller Print

0:00
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News Analysis

Ever since the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union, and later the United States and Russia, have worked to both limit the overall number of nuclear weapons as well as the type of nuclear weapons each side deployed. Progress was steady, though often characterized as one of two steps forward and one step back.

U.S. concerns over Russia’s compliance with past arms control agreements, China’s plans to substantially expand its nuclear arsenal, the developing quasi-military alliance between Russia and China, and the development of hypersonic missile technology are now threatening to potentially upend past agreements and will make negotiating future nuclear arms control treaties far more difficult.

US-Soviet-Russian Nuclear Arms Control Agreements
Between 1972 and 2011, the United States negotiated eight nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and, after 1989, with Russia. SALT I and START I limited the number of nuclear warhead delivery vehicles each side could deploy.

SALT I also limited the number of anti-ballistic missiles each side could have, although the United States withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2002. The proposed SALT II treaty was never ratified but both sides generally lived within its terms.

Starting with START I and then continuing with START II, the United States and the Soviet Union also moved to limit the number of warheads. The maximum number of warheads was progressively reduced to 6,000 and then to 3,000-3,500 in Start II. The proposed START III agreement was anticipated to bring the number of deployed warheads down to 2,000-2,500, but the negotiations never occurred.

The SORT and New START agreements, negotiated by the Bush and Obama administrations, respectively, were intended to further reduce the number of strategic delivery systems to 700 vehicles and to reduce the number of warheads to 1,550. On Feb. 3, 2021, the Biden administration agreed to extend the New START treaty for an additional five years, to Feb. 5, 2026.

In addition, in 1987 the two countries agreed to eliminate all ground-launched, nuclear-armed, intermediate-range ballistic and cruise missiles (INF Treaty), with ranges from 300 to 3,300 miles. In addition to the United States and Russia, the former Soviet states of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were also parties to the INF agreement.

The Trump administration terminated U.S. participation in the INF Treaty on Feb. 2, 2019, and formally withdrew on Aug. 2, 2019, based on charges of Russian noncompliance, for example, cheating as well as concerns about the buildup of Chinese intermediate-range nuclear weapons.

Specifically, critics charged, the 9M729 (NATO designation SSC-X-8 “Screwdriver”) ground-launched, intermediate-range cruise missile, which Russia began testing in 2014 and deploying in 2018, had a range of between 300 and 3,400 miles. The missile could carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. Since then, Moscow has announced that it is developing a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile, designated the 9M730 Burevestnik (Russian for Petrel), of virtually unlimited range.

In July 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Defense to conduct a Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). The practice of commissioning NPRs began with the Clinton administration and has continued under subsequent presidents. The review takes approximately a year to carry out and is chaired by the Secretary of Defense. The result of the Biden administration’s NPR is expected shortly. In the interim, Team Biden has come under increasing pressure to forswear first use of nuclear weapons and to redouble efforts with Russia to further reduce nuclear arms.

China did not participate in the nuclear arms control negotiations conducted by the United States with the Soviet Union and then Russia. Until about 10 years ago, according to a report by the Federation of American Scientists, it was estimated that China had around 200-250 nuclear warheads; of which 75-100 were on intercontinental-range ballistic missiles, half of which could reach the United States, and the balance in short-range ballistic missiles slated for use as theater nuclear weapons. These missiles would primarily be deployed against targets in the Pacific and Asian regions and in particular against U.S. Naval forces in the Western Pacific, especially in the South and East China Seas.

When the Trump administration withdrew from the INF Treaty, it made clear that any further treaties limiting theater nuclear weapons would have to include China as well. China in turn declared that it had no interest in participating in such negotiations.

China’s Growing Nuclear Arsenal and Hypersonic Weapons
Over the last several years, there has been mounting evidence that Beijing is orchestrating a significant expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal. Last year satellite imagery revealed that China was constructing approximately 250 new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos in three new locations: 229 new silos in Yumen and Hami in northwestern China, and another 29 new silos at Hanggin Banner in Inner Mongolia.

Epoch Times Photo
China’s DF-41 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on Oct. 1, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)
According to the latest Pentagon estimates, China probably has around 100 ICBMs, some of which are capable of carrying multiple independent reentry vehicles (MIRVs). The existing ICBM force is both silo-based and mobile. According to Pentagon sources, China could double its ICBM force by 2025 and could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.

Even more concerning, are recent Chinese tests of a hypersonic glide weapon. In July 2022, China put into orbit a nuclear capable hypersonic glider that subsequently reentered the atmosphere traveling at a speed of five times the speed of sound, approximately 3,800 miles per hour, and was able to maneuver on its way to its designated target. Russia has tested a similar reentry vehicle, the Avantgard. The U.S. program is still in its testing phase and is designed for conventional warheads.

Their name notwithstanding, hypersonic glide vehicles do not travel significantly faster than a conventional ICBM. The threat they pose is that they are far more maneuverable and are better able to evade ballistic missile defense systems. Essentially, they combine the speed of ballistic missiles with the maneuverability of cruise missiles.

Moreover, by first going into low earth orbit and then reentering the atmosphere, hypersonic gliders could attack on any trajectory. Most American ballistic missile defense systems assume that a missile attack on the United States would come from the north, over the North Pole, and are oriented accordingly.

Russia-China Military Cooperation
Russia and China have not signed a formal defense alliance and are unlikely to do so. Nonetheless, their foreign and military policies are demonstrating a growing degree of coordination and cooperation.

In 2018, China participated in Russia’s annual defense exercise. In 2019, they carried out joint bomber patrols near Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Later that year, their two navies held joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan. Since then, the pace of joint military exercises has continued to increase.

In August 2021, for example, Russian and Chinese troops conducted joint exercises in the Ningxia region of north-central China under a joint Russian-Chinese command and control structure. The exercise involved more than 13,000 troops, thousands of vehicles, and hundreds of aircraft and mobile artillery. In October, the two countries carried out joint naval drills of Russia’s Pacific coastline.

Russia has been Beijing’s chief armament supplier. Since 2014, China has purchased Russia’s latest S-400 anti-aircraft defense system. China has also ordered Russian-made SU-35 (NATO designation Flanker-E) air defense fighters.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Russia President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia is assisting China with an anti-missile early warning system and that the two countries were collaborating on an advanced submarine design.

In turn, China has become Russia’s primary supplier of advanced computer chips, following the imposition of economic sanctions on Moscow for its seizure of Crimea. In October 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced, after years of careful neutrality on the topic, that “Taiwan was part of China.”

Space has become another area of burgeoning cooperation, some of it with military ramifications, between Russia and China. In 2019, China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, announced they would coordinate the lunar missions of Chang’e and Luna-Resurs-1.

Russia’s space technology is increasingly obsolete, and Moscow has been turning to Beijing for assistance in its modernization. The two countries are jointly working together to develop a new heavy rocket technology. They are also cooperating in the development of anti-satellite weapons, even though such weapons threaten each other’s satellite networks.

Epoch Times Photo
A Long March 3B rocket carrying the Beidou-3GEO3 satellite lifts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwestern China’s Sichuan Province on June 23, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chinese Beidou and Russian Glonass are highly complementary and together form a system with 59 satellites capable of competing with the U.S. Global Position System (GPS).

There are plenty of points of contention between Moscow and Beijing. Russia is a major arms supplier to both India and Vietnam, two countries that are increasingly at odds with China. Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence in central Asia, and to draw those countries into its economic orbit, run counter to Moscow’s political and economic objectives in the region. Nonetheless, the United States cannot discount the possibility that Russian military moves in the Baltic republics or Ukraine could be coordinated by comparable Chinese actions in the South China Sea or against Taiwan.

The Future of Arms Control Agreements
The evolution of hypersonic reentry vehicles will erode the capabilities of anti-missile defense systems at a time when the breadth of the nuclear arsenal faced by the United States is greater than it has been in a generation.

Although Beijing and Moscow are not formally allied to one another, they are both trying to increase their leverage against the United States by emphasizing their willingness to cooperate militarily and support each other politically and economically. It’s not clear if this cooperation will rise to the level of coordinating military actions, but it very well could.

From the standpoint of nuclear arms control, Washington will increasingly have to weigh the dilemma that nuclear parity with Russia and China would put it at a distinct disadvantage if those two countries were to act in tandem, however unlikely that scenario may appear at the moment.

Neither Russia nor China are likely to accept an agreement that gives the United States parity against their combined nuclear forces. Likewise, America will not abandon the goal of nuclear parity, which has been the foundation of its prior nuclear arms control agreements, by allowing Russia and China to collectively have a nuclear force greater than that of the United States. Under these conditions, it’s hard to see how further progress in reducing nuclear arms is possible.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Joseph V. Micallef
Joseph V. Micallef
Follow
Joseph V. Micallef is a historian, bestselling author, syndicated columnist, war correspondent, and private equity investor. He holds a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a Fulbright fellow at the Italian Institute of International Affairs. He has been a commentator for several broadcast venues and media outlets and has also written several books on military history and world affairs. His latest book, "Leadership in an Opaque Future," is forthcoming. Micallef is also a noted judge of wines and spirits and authored a bestselling book on Scotch whisky.

[Crafty_Dog]

Chinese Military-Linked Firm Gathers American DNA, Provides COVID Tests
Antonio Graceffo
Antonio Graceffo
 February 2, 2022 Updated: February 3, 2022biggersmaller Print
News Analysis

China is “developing the world’s largest bio database,” said Edward You, who is the U.S. national counterintelligence officer for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies. “Once they have access to your genetic data, it’s not something you can change like a pin code.”

Racing to dominate the bioeconomy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is compiling a massive database of medical, health, and genetic information from people around the world, including Americans.

The CCP enlists the help of private companies to aid in gathering genetic data, which can be combined with top military supercomputing capabilities, to discover genetic weaknesses in a population. Bioweapons can then be developed, which prey on these weaknesses. As part of Beijing’s military-civil fusion policy, Chinese scientists, along with the military, have been conducting research in the areas of brain science, gene editing, and the creation of artificial genomes.

Similar research could be used to enhance the performance of Chinese soldiers. BGI Group, formerly Beijing Genomics Institute, is the leader of the CCP’s genome project, as well as one of the leading producers of COVID-19 tests. BGI also has ties to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to a Jan. 30 report by Reuters.

BGI operates the largest pig cloning project in the world. After manipulating generations of pig DNA, intentionally producing pigs that are smaller or larger, more susceptible to certain diseases, or less susceptible to others, the CCP is zeroing in on the ability to produce “super soldiers.” Among the projects currently underway is BGI’s attempt to make China’s Han ethnic soldiers less susceptible to altitude sickness.

BGI’s current chief infectious disease scientist, Chen Weijun, was among the first scientists to sequence COVID-19, taking samples from a military hospital in Wuhan. He is also credited with the patent on the BGI test kits, which have been distributed around the world, including in the United States. Four of BGI’s researchers have been affiliated with the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT), under China’s Central Military Commission, which is headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The NUDT has been blacklisted by the United States as a threat to national security.

Under Xi, private technology companies have been increasingly integrated into military-related research. In 2021, BGI offered to set up COVID test centers in the United States. But U.S. security officials warned that test centers would allow China to gain access to American DNA, as the swabs have genetic material on them. According to Mike Orlando, the head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, no U.S. states agreed, but at least 18 other countries allowed BGI to establish test centers. Additionally, BGI test kits were sent to 180 nations.

The logo of Chinese gene firm BGI Group
The logo of Chinese gene firm BGI Group is seen at its building in Beijing, China, on March 25, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)
Chinese medical testing companies regularly use DNA collected from test subjects for other research. Human rights groups say the CCP is using the data for security purposes such as identifying and tracking Uyghur Muslims. Furthermore, Chinese police are trying to amass samples of DNA from the country’s 700 million males, to keep track of future criminals.

Home ancestry tests are another way that the Chinese regime is obtaining DNA from Americans. The U.S. military has warned soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to avoid companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe, which have ties to China. An estimated 50 million Americans have already paid to have their saliva tested for their DNA ancestry, according to Bill Evanina, former director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

Chinese firm Wu Xi Biologics bought a Pfizer manufacturing plant in China, and established a production facility in Massachusetts. In 2015, the firm also bought a stake in 23andMe. Wu Xi Biologics now has locations in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, as well as a drug plant in Delaware, which was built with a state grant.

BGI Group earns part of its revenue by selling genetic sequencing services to universities and health systems around the world. The company has also been purchasing U.S. genomics firms since 2013, and now has multiple partnerships with U.S. companies involved in gene sequencing. In each of these arrangements, BGI gains access to genetic data. Under China’s National Intelligence Law, all data obtained by Chinese companies, even abroad, must be turned over to the CCP, upon request.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) warned that Chinese firms invest in U.S. companies in the hopes of gaining access to U.S. data. Last year, CFIUS blocked a Chinese firm from purchasing a California fertility clinic, which was located in close proximity to six U.S. military bases. The concern was that not only would the CCP gain access to the genetic data of U.S. soldiers, but also of their unborn children.

In spite of the obvious dangers, this year, the Biden administration signed a $1.3 billion deal with iHealth Labs, a unit of the Chinese firm Andon Health Co., for home COVID test kits. It is part of the administration’s initiative to provide 1 billion free rapid COVID-19 tests to Americans.

The Winter Olympics will provide a perfect opportunity for DNA data gathering. Olympic athletes and coaches will be subjected to daily COVID tests, while media personnel and other attendees will also be tested on a regular basis. This means that the CCP will have the genetic material of every person who attends the Games. Attendees will also be required to download a government-approved health app, which has been proven to have security flaws. Internet security experts warn that the app will be able to gather user data, which, combined with genetic information, can be fed into China’s massive artificial intelligence and genome projects.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

[G M]

DNA targeted bioweapons, coming soon...

Chinese Military-Linked Firm Gathers American DNA, Provides COVID Tests
Antonio Graceffo
Antonio Graceffo
 February 2, 2022 Updated: February 3, 2022biggersmaller Print
News Analysis

China is “developing the world’s largest bio database,” said Edward You, who is the U.S. national counterintelligence officer for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies. “Once they have access to your genetic data, it’s not something you can change like a pin code.”

Racing to dominate the bioeconomy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is compiling a massive database of medical, health, and genetic information from people around the world, including Americans.

The CCP enlists the help of private companies to aid in gathering genetic data, which can be combined with top military supercomputing capabilities, to discover genetic weaknesses in a population. Bioweapons can then be developed, which prey on these weaknesses. As part of Beijing’s military-civil fusion policy, Chinese scientists, along with the military, have been conducting research in the areas of brain science, gene editing, and the creation of artificial genomes.

Similar research could be used to enhance the performance of Chinese soldiers. BGI Group, formerly Beijing Genomics Institute, is the leader of the CCP’s genome project, as well as one of the leading producers of COVID-19 tests. BGI also has ties to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to a Jan. 30 report by Reuters.

BGI operates the largest pig cloning project in the world. After manipulating generations of pig DNA, intentionally producing pigs that are smaller or larger, more susceptible to certain diseases, or less susceptible to others, the CCP is zeroing in on the ability to produce “super soldiers.” Among the projects currently underway is BGI’s attempt to make China’s Han ethnic soldiers less susceptible to altitude sickness.

BGI’s current chief infectious disease scientist, Chen Weijun, was among the first scientists to sequence COVID-19, taking samples from a military hospital in Wuhan. He is also credited with the patent on the BGI test kits, which have been distributed around the world, including in the United States. Four of BGI’s researchers have been affiliated with the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT), under China’s Central Military Commission, which is headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The NUDT has been blacklisted by the United States as a threat to national security.

Under Xi, private technology companies have been increasingly integrated into military-related research. In 2021, BGI offered to set up COVID test centers in the United States. But U.S. security officials warned that test centers would allow China to gain access to American DNA, as the swabs have genetic material on them. According to Mike Orlando, the head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, no U.S. states agreed, but at least 18 other countries allowed BGI to establish test centers. Additionally, BGI test kits were sent to 180 nations.

The logo of Chinese gene firm BGI Group
The logo of Chinese gene firm BGI Group is seen at its building in Beijing, China, on March 25, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)
Chinese medical testing companies regularly use DNA collected from test subjects for other research. Human rights groups say the CCP is using the data for security purposes such as identifying and tracking Uyghur Muslims. Furthermore, Chinese police are trying to amass samples of DNA from the country’s 700 million males, to keep track of future criminals.

Home ancestry tests are another way that the Chinese regime is obtaining DNA from Americans. The U.S. military has warned soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to avoid companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe, which have ties to China. An estimated 50 million Americans have already paid to have their saliva tested for their DNA ancestry, according to Bill Evanina, former director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

Chinese firm Wu Xi Biologics bought a Pfizer manufacturing plant in China, and established a production facility in Massachusetts. In 2015, the firm also bought a stake in 23andMe. Wu Xi Biologics now has locations in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, as well as a drug plant in Delaware, which was built with a state grant.

BGI Group earns part of its revenue by selling genetic sequencing services to universities and health systems around the world. The company has also been purchasing U.S. genomics firms since 2013, and now has multiple partnerships with U.S. companies involved in gene sequencing. In each of these arrangements, BGI gains access to genetic data. Under China’s National Intelligence Law, all data obtained by Chinese companies, even abroad, must be turned over to the CCP, upon request.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) warned that Chinese firms invest in U.S. companies in the hopes of gaining access to U.S. data. Last year, CFIUS blocked a Chinese firm from purchasing a California fertility clinic, which was located in close proximity to six U.S. military bases. The concern was that not only would the CCP gain access to the genetic data of U.S. soldiers, but also of their unborn children.

In spite of the obvious dangers, this year, the Biden administration signed a $1.3 billion deal with iHealth Labs, a unit of the Chinese firm Andon Health Co., for home COVID test kits. It is part of the administration’s initiative to provide 1 billion free rapid COVID-19 tests to Americans.

The Winter Olympics will provide a perfect opportunity for DNA data gathering. Olympic athletes and coaches will be subjected to daily COVID tests, while media personnel and other attendees will also be tested on a regular basis. This means that the CCP will have the genetic material of every person who attends the Games. Attendees will also be required to download a government-approved health app, which has been proven to have security flaws. Internet security experts warn that the app will be able to gather user data, which, combined with genetic information, can be fed into China’s massive artificial intelligence and genome projects.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/russia-programs/2022-03-04/memoriam-col-gen-ret-evgeny-maslin-1937-2022?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=12bc7c4d-1e2d-492a-ab65-7672b0f1a9a1

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/8/dni-china-engaged-largest-nuclear-buildup-history-/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=morning&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=morning&bt_ee=C20xP9eenPFMrc9%2F0CmviiIV3PS7wXrII94p8niurVS%2B%2Fxv2DAfBW3cS9xykBjtV&bt_ts=1646822742467

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/07/16/location-us-nuclear-weapons-europe-accidentally-revealed-report-nato-body/?fbclid=IwAR0yse18lk6M2mJTq4HMUF9Ge_qFfzM6nWC6n0MW2tNQoSdR751DqYLK__8

[Crafty_Dog]

second

==============
Tucker had an outstanding rampage last light on this:


https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-is-protecting-biological-research-facilities-in-ukraine-from-russia-official_4325948.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&utm_campaign=mb-2022-03-10&utm_medium=email&est=R9w5Pmg48GOcBGO2gbJh%2FA4d8uHX1mGs200QZ8eXaKFCTttaf32JEN9J06Zlh4LEKzuL

[G M]

second

==============
Tucker had an outstanding rampage last light on this:


https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-is-protecting-biological-research-facilities-in-ukraine-from-russia-official_4325948.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&utm_campaign=mb-2022-03-10&utm_medium=email&est=R9w5Pmg48GOcBGO2gbJh%2FA4d8uHX1mGs200QZ8eXaKFCTttaf32JEN9J06Zlh4LEKzuL

"Weber told PolitiFact that the CTR Program “has provided technical support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health since 2005 to improve public health laboratories” and that the mission of the health labs “is analogous to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The labs “have recently played an important role in stopping the spread of COVID-19,” he said."

The CDC also had an important role in funding Covid's creation!

[G M]

second

==============
Tucker had an outstanding rampage last light on this:


https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-is-protecting-biological-research-facilities-in-ukraine-from-russia-official_4325948.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&utm_campaign=mb-2022-03-10&utm_medium=email&est=R9w5Pmg48GOcBGO2gbJh%2FA4d8uHX1mGs200QZ8eXaKFCTttaf32JEN9J06Zlh4LEKzuL

Jack Posobiec:

It’s so wild to watch Tucker do a whole hour tonight explaining why we need answers on the biolabs in Ukraine and then Sean Hannity and Jen Griffin come on and say everyone needs to shut up about biolabs in Ukraine or they are Putin lovers

[G M]

second

==============
Tucker had an outstanding rampage last light on this:


https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-is-protecting-biological-research-facilities-in-ukraine-from-russia-official_4325948.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&utm_campaign=mb-2022-03-10&utm_medium=email&est=R9w5Pmg48GOcBGO2gbJh%2FA4d8uHX1mGs200QZ8eXaKFCTttaf32JEN9J06Zlh4LEKzuL

Jack Posobiec:

It’s so wild to watch Tucker do a whole hour tonight explaining why we need answers on the biolabs in Ukraine and then Sean Hannity and Jen Griffin come on and say everyone needs to shut up about biolabs in Ukraine or they are Putin lovers

https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/101/128/041/original/0b67177410e4ca6c.jpg

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/greenwald-slays-fact-checkers-after-nulands-ukraine-biolab-bombshell?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=532

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AugzqXPYaOc

[G M]

http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=398166

Deep State Embed at Fox.

second

==============
Tucker had an outstanding rampage last light on this:


https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-is-protecting-biological-research-facilities-in-ukraine-from-russia-official_4325948.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&utm_campaign=mb-2022-03-10&utm_medium=email&est=R9w5Pmg48GOcBGO2gbJh%2FA4d8uHX1mGs200QZ8eXaKFCTttaf32JEN9J06Zlh4LEKzuL

Jack Posobiec:

It’s so wild to watch Tucker do a whole hour tonight explaining why we need answers on the biolabs in Ukraine and then Sean Hannity and Jen Griffin come on and say everyone needs to shut up about biolabs in Ukraine or they are Putin lovers

https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/101/128/041/original/0b67177410e4ca6c.jpg

[Crafty_Dog]

Tucker continued to strongly disparage the line of analysis below tonight;
===========
Unfounded Russian Claims of Biological Weapons Research in Ukraine Stir Fears of Wider Risk
Western officials are concerned the accusations could serve as a pretext for Moscow to unleash chemical or biological weapons

Russia has raised pressure on Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol with more-dangerous conventional weapons; a street in Mariupol on Thursday.
PHOTO: EVGENIY MALOLETKA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By William Mauldin
Follow
March 10, 2022 2:18 pm ET


Russian officials accused the U.S. of funding biowarfare efforts in Ukraine, drawing concern from Western officials who fear that a crescendo of allegations about weapons of mass destruction could serve as a pretext for Russia to unleash chemical or biological weapons itself.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday said that a U.S. defense agency funded research into bat coronaviruses in Ukraine and the country’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that “these were not peaceful experiments.”

On Wednesday, the White House rejected such accusations, saying allegations over the use of biological or chemical weapons could mark efforts by the Russians to lay the groundwork for their use in the Ukraine conflict.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that similar allegations about work on a chemical weapons program in Ukraine “have been debunked,” adding that the claim is “an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent.”

Western officials increasingly worry that such accusations are a sign that Moscow, which has raised pressure on Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol with more-dangerous conventional weapons, is growing more willing to resort to using nuclear, biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine.

A senior North Atlantic Treaty Organization official said Wednesday there are serious concerns that Russia—which has struggled to make headway in its assault on Ukraine—is setting the stage to use chemical weapons in the country.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Washington has been supporting research that could allow the spread of diseases through wild birds migrating between Russia and Ukraine, adding that “biolaboratories set up and funded in Ukraine have been experimenting with bat coronavirus samples.”

It said that the U.S. was planning to do work there in 2022 on pathogens affecting birds, reptiles and bats, as well as possible research related to African swine fever and anthrax.

“We have sent an official query on how it can be explained and we will demand to get a reply,” Mr. Lavrov said in talks with his Ukrainian and Turkish counterparts in Antalya, Turkey. “As to them using these weapons, I don’t have information like that, but these were not peaceful experiments.”

The U.S. has said that the defense agency blamed by Russia, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and its Biological Threat Reduction Program, seeks to “counter the threat of outbreaks—deliberate, accidental or natural—of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases.”

Separately, the U.S. has supplied four mobile labs to Ukraine that were used to help control the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

The U.S. helped upgrade some labs in Ukraine to biosafety level 2, or BSL-2, according to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. Labs with that biosafety level typically handle disease samples that aren’t particularly hazardous, such as HIV and the bacteria that cause staph infections.


Ukraine isn’t believed to have any BSL-4 labs, which are highly secure facilities that research the most infectious and dangerous pathogens, such as the Ebola virus, according to research cited by U.S. health agencies.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Thursday that the U.S. does “not believe that Ukraine is pursuing biological or nuclear weapons,” adding that the Washington has provided biosafety assistance in the past to Ukraine, which she says operates about a dozen labs focused on biodefense and public-health responses rather than offensive weaponry.

Ms. Psaki said that the U.S. is in full compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention “and does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere.” Russia has a documented record of using chemical weapons, she said.

Moscow has also accused Kyiv of seeking to produce nuclear weapons.

The international agency that monitors nuclear programs denied that Ukraine is seeking to produce such arms. Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Concerns over a nuclear incident have risen as Russian and Ukrainian forces clash around nuclear-energy sites.

In 2018, the State Department issued a report to Congress that said Russia had failed to show that it has halted the use of chemical and biological weapons, a determination that paved the way for sanctions against the Kremlin and entities under its control.

Moscow has supported the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which used chemical weapons against the civilian population during the country’s civil war.

“Putin is very comfortable fighting dirty, including in Syria,” said Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group, a London think tank. “For him, this is really about laying the groundwork to show that if he is using chemical or biological weapons, he can just claim in the international community that he is just matching weapons from the other side—which is a complete falsification.”

[Crafty_Dog]

second

Russia Sees Gold in Ukraine’s Nuclear Plants
The takeover of Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhya could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Putin’s economy.
By Jeffrey S. Merrifield
March 10, 2022 6:44 pm ET

An unappreciated motive for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is that Kyiv was positioning itself to break from its longtime Russian nuclear suppliers, as the U.S. was encroaching on Russia’s largest nuclear export market.

At the beginning of the conflict, Russian tanks rolled through the Chernobyl site, kicking up dust and increasing radiation levels. Eight days later, the invaders seized the six-unit nuclear power plant in the town of Zaporizhzhya, 700 miles away.

By taking over Chernobyl, Russia gives itself control of the disposal of its spent fuel, which it can store in canisters at the site or ship to a reprocessing facility in Russia. Either way, this represents hundreds of millions of dollars for Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear enterprise.

The shift could displace Holtec, an American designer and maker of dry-storage canister technologies for used nuclear fuel. In 2007 State Specialized Enterprise Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant authorized Holtec to build a facility to store for 100 years the 22,000 used fuel assemblies from Chernobyl. The project was intended to allow Ukraine to store this fuel safely without shipping it back to Russia for reprocessing. The processing and storage facility was completed in 2020, and Holtec and SSE Chernobyl were loading the canisters to be stored when the war began on Feb. 24.


Further, Ukraine has 15 operating nuclear reactors at four sites, including Zaporizhzhya, that the Russians designed and built. That is the largest number of such plants built by Russians outside their own country. Beginning in 2005, however, the American company Westinghouse emerged as a competitor to the Russian nuclear supplier, Atomstroyexport, owned by Rosatom. At the time of the invasion, Westinghouse supplied fuel to six of the 15 nuclear reactors and could displace the Russians in all of them. The U.S. government had been highly supportive of this effort, and these fuel contracts represented hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly lost sales to Atomstroyexport. By seizing the nuclear plants, Russia is able to retake the market for Ukrainian nuclear fuel.

Most important, Westinghouse, with support from the U.S., was in a position to build nuclear reactors in Ukraine over the next two decades. On Aug. 31, 2021, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and her Ukrainian counterpart, Herman Halushchenko, signed a strategic cooperation agreement to build five nuclear units with a value, according to the World Nuclear Association, of more than $30 billion.

On Nov. 22, Patrick Fragman and Petro Kotin, the CEOs, respectively, of Westinghouse and Energoatom, the Ukrainian state-owned utility, signed a contract to build the first Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear unit in the city of Khmelnitsky, where two Russian-built nuclear units currently operate. The plan was to use the site of a Russian-designed nuclear reactor that had been left about one-third complete in 1990—as well as parts from a canceled American nuclear project in South Carolina. The goal, Mr. Kotin said, was 24 gigawatts of nuclear capability by 2040.

The timing is telling. In November 2021, Ukraine’s leaders signed a deal with Westinghouse to start construction on what they hoped would be at least five nuclear units—the first tranche of a program that could more than double the number of plants in the country, with a potential total value approaching $100 billion. Ukraine clearly intended that Russia receive none of that business.

Mr. Merrifield was a commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1998-2007. He is global energy section leader for the Pillsbury Law Firm and represents nuclear utilities, suppliers and technology developers.

[G M]

Tucker is quite correct to do so.

Tucker continued to strongly disparage the line of analysis below tonight;
===========
Unfounded Russian Claims of Biological Weapons Research in Ukraine Stir Fears of Wider Risk
Western officials are concerned the accusations could serve as a pretext for Moscow to unleash chemical or biological weapons

Russia has raised pressure on Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol with more-dangerous conventional weapons; a street in Mariupol on Thursday.
PHOTO: EVGENIY MALOLETKA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By William Mauldin
Follow
March 10, 2022 2:18 pm ET


Russian officials accused the U.S. of funding biowarfare efforts in Ukraine, drawing concern from Western officials who fear that a crescendo of allegations about weapons of mass destruction could serve as a pretext for Russia to unleash chemical or biological weapons itself.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday said that a U.S. defense agency funded research into bat coronaviruses in Ukraine and the country’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that “these were not peaceful experiments.”

On Wednesday, the White House rejected such accusations, saying allegations over the use of biological or chemical weapons could mark efforts by the Russians to lay the groundwork for their use in the Ukraine conflict.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that similar allegations about work on a chemical weapons program in Ukraine “have been debunked,” adding that the claim is “an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent.”

Western officials increasingly worry that such accusations are a sign that Moscow, which has raised pressure on Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol with more-dangerous conventional weapons, is growing more willing to resort to using nuclear, biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine.

A senior North Atlantic Treaty Organization official said Wednesday there are serious concerns that Russia—which has struggled to make headway in its assault on Ukraine—is setting the stage to use chemical weapons in the country.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Washington has been supporting research that could allow the spread of diseases through wild birds migrating between Russia and Ukraine, adding that “biolaboratories set up and funded in Ukraine have been experimenting with bat coronavirus samples.”

It said that the U.S. was planning to do work there in 2022 on pathogens affecting birds, reptiles and bats, as well as possible research related to African swine fever and anthrax.

“We have sent an official query on how it can be explained and we will demand to get a reply,” Mr. Lavrov said in talks with his Ukrainian and Turkish counterparts in Antalya, Turkey. “As to them using these weapons, I don’t have information like that, but these were not peaceful experiments.”

The U.S. has said that the defense agency blamed by Russia, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and its Biological Threat Reduction Program, seeks to “counter the threat of outbreaks—deliberate, accidental or natural—of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases.”

Separately, the U.S. has supplied four mobile labs to Ukraine that were used to help control the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

The U.S. helped upgrade some labs in Ukraine to biosafety level 2, or BSL-2, according to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. Labs with that biosafety level typically handle disease samples that aren’t particularly hazardous, such as HIV and the bacteria that cause staph infections.


Ukraine isn’t believed to have any BSL-4 labs, which are highly secure facilities that research the most infectious and dangerous pathogens, such as the Ebola virus, according to research cited by U.S. health agencies.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Thursday that the U.S. does “not believe that Ukraine is pursuing biological or nuclear weapons,” adding that the Washington has provided biosafety assistance in the past to Ukraine, which she says operates about a dozen labs focused on biodefense and public-health responses rather than offensive weaponry.

Ms. Psaki said that the U.S. is in full compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention “and does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere.” Russia has a documented record of using chemical weapons, she said.

Moscow has also accused Kyiv of seeking to produce nuclear weapons.

The international agency that monitors nuclear programs denied that Ukraine is seeking to produce such arms. Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Concerns over a nuclear incident have risen as Russian and Ukrainian forces clash around nuclear-energy sites.

In 2018, the State Department issued a report to Congress that said Russia had failed to show that it has halted the use of chemical and biological weapons, a determination that paved the way for sanctions against the Kremlin and entities under its control.

Moscow has supported the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which used chemical weapons against the civilian population during the country’s civil war.

“Putin is very comfortable fighting dirty, including in Syria,” said Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group, a London think tank. “For him, this is really about laying the groundwork to show that if he is using chemical or biological weapons, he can just claim in the international community that he is just matching weapons from the other side—which is a complete falsification.”

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/ukraines-bio-lab-security-is-becoming-an-issue/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MJ_20220309&utm_term=Jolt-Smart

[G M]

I'm just glad that the USG would never lie to us. They'd NEVER outsource Gain Of Function to sketchy labs well outside US jurisdiction!

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/ukraines-bio-lab-security-is-becoming-an-issue/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MJ_20220309&utm_term=Jolt-Smart

[Crafty_Dog]

https://michaelyon.locals.com/upost/1829314/list-of-ukraine-biolabs-documents-removed-by-us-embassy

[G M]

People with nothing to hide ALWAYS do this!

https://michaelyon.locals.com/upost/1829314/list-of-ukraine-biolabs-documents-removed-by-us-embassy

[G M]

https://hannity.com/media-room/where-theres-smoke-theres-hunter-biden-firm-rosemont-seneca-invested-in-ukrainian-biolabs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=where-theres-smoke-theres-hunter-biden-firm-rosemont-seneca-invested-in-ukrainian-biolabs

[Crafty_Dog]

https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/ukraine-biolab-watchtower?fbclid=IwAR3Iyi9kG5sTKJcX_HhQwKMMae2wPvC9qsGwfw0kOU7T8XGoVF_dp7rA6bw&s=r

[Crafty_Dog]

Robin is part of a FB chat group of which I am a member, and he has impressed me.  Strong background in interesting things.  I have asked Webmaster Bob to register him here for our forum.  He is a busy man, but I hope he will find us worthy of his time.

He has been kind enough to put together the following for us:

=============================

A lot of OMG!!! Is circulating regarding U.S. funded biolabs in Ukraine and elsewhere. Some context is
needed if we are to sort through the conflicting reports and the issues.

In 1991 the Nunn-Lugar Act set up a Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to secure and prevent the
spread of Soviet weapons of mass destruction as the USSR dissolved. These included nuclear bombs and
materials, but also chemical and biological agents.

By the early 2000s this took on a particular urgency, as former Soviet researchers were becoming
destitute and materials were migrating to the black economy from their labs. Jihadi and other groups
were particularly interested in the possible uses to which these agents and materials might be put.
Terror-associated groups were found scouting out c.f. the NY City water supply, among other potential
vectors for a covert attack.

At the center of the CTR program from the American side was and is the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency – the U.S. counterWMD agency. It had evolved from the previous Defense Nuclear Agency as
‘WMD’ expanded beyond nukes to include chemical, biological, and radiological contamination agents.
Fast forward to the 2009 flu pandemic. I was at DTRA from 2009-2010 managing a basic research grant
program in the new mathematics related to complex adaptive networked systems. One of the teams
funded by my program and NIH produced a highly accurate model of the H1N1 swine flu spread and
identified how to interrupt the pandemic.

The H1N1 variant of that year started among swine herds in Asia and was highly transmissible to and
between humans. It spread rapidly, including by air travel which had become common and inexpensive
by then. H1N1 was the virus that also had caused millions of deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic – and that
caused Russia’s 2007 pandemic as well.

But there was another flu virus circulating in 2009, and it also was a major concern. The H5N1 avian flu
– “bird flu” – was only a few small mutations away from being easily human to human transmissible.
When humans did contract it, it was often very severe and could be quite deadly.

So here’s the challenge. How do you defend against such a virus, whether naturally mutated or
engineered in a lab? Keep in mind that the USSR had more than a few biolabs actively working on bio
weapons. (Remember the anthrax leak in the 1970s? Yeah, from that major Soviet lab just east of the
Urals. Remember the jihadi attempts to use anthrax as WMD against the West after 9/11? Hmmm …..)
At a minimum, you need to be able to detect biological agents, know which ones are serious threats,
and know how to defend against them or respond to them. And if you don’t want them being sold in the
black economy – which by 2010 was larger than all of the national economies in the world put together
– then you might want to figure out how to help researchers in former Soviet republics put food on their
tables.

That’s the origin and purpose for which biolabs in Ukraine, Georgia, etc. were funded by the U.S.
I can’t speak to how that purpose might have evolved since my time at DTRA. I can attest that the
chem/bio people I knew there were very focused on detection and defense – the terrorism / rogue state
threat was real.

When WMD equaled nuclear bombs in the possession of only a handful of countries capable of creating
and delivering them, counterWMD’s scope was clear. But biological agents – natural or weaponized –
blur the boundaries between WMD defense, the creation of bio weapons, and civilian medical research
almost irredeemably. As we push back on the likes of Anthony Fauci, keep in mind that there are also
honest people seriously focused on legitimate detection and defense against them, here and elsewhere.

- Robin Burk

[Crafty_Dog]

Now, about those biolabs.

Back in the good old days the Soviet Union ran a large biological weapons program. Sometimes bad things happened with that program, notably in 1979, when an anthrax leak from a laboratory in Sverdlovsk killed about 100 civilians. The Soviets lied — shocker, I know — and blamed “tainted meat” for the deaths.

Then, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. The end of history, the triumph of democratic capitalism, yadda yadda yadda, yabba-dabba-doo. Meanwhile all those biological weapons labs (and nuclear labs too), and the scientists who worked for them, were now the property of a defunct and bankrupt state.

Which made them our problem.

Basically, we had to figure out a way to put a bunch of proud scientists on welfare so they wouldn’t be tempted to sell their services to the highest bidder. We actually worked with the Russians to de-enrich the uranium in their nuclear warheads for a while, which was a pretty cool program.


—

Figuring out how to pay off the bioweapons guys was trickier.

You can’t de-enrich anthrax, and those offensive biological weapons programs weren’t supposed to be happening anyway. In 1972 we and the Soviets had agreed to ban them. Instead, we paid to upgrade the security at the labs and found ways for scientists to keep studying pathogens and chasing potential outbreaks - not just in the Ukraine, but all over the former Soviet Union, and then in other countries too.

As the Defense Threat Reduction Agency explains:

These efforts include facilitating the construction or renovation of more than 100 laboratory and storage facilities and coordinating more than 300 cooperative research projects aimed at safely studying, detecting, and diagnosing especially dangerous pathogens.

SOURCE

The boys at the Pentagon call this “defense in depth” - meaning, better to catch the nasties over there than over here.


None of this was illegal, or hidden, though some of the details of the programs were classified. And it’s been successful, more or less. You can tell from all the people who didn’t die in the great anthrax attack of 2019 that didn’t happen.

(Meanwhile, even as we spent billions to keep ourselves safe from foreign scientists, Tony Fauci and the boys pushed gain-of-function research to turn harmless coronaviruses into mortal threats, but that’s a story for another day. The call is coming from inside the house…)

Nor did the Russians have any problem with this long-running effort. Until now. Why now?

Come on, do I even need to explain?

You may have noticed the Kremlin’s lil adventure in Ukraine is not going exactly as planned. The Ukrainians are not cooperating with the first Russian excuse for the war, that Vladimir’s men needed to liberate Ukraine from its Jewish president and his evil Nazi army (say it fast and it makes even less sense!).

Now the Russians need a new excuse for their war and its crimes. It doesn’t have to be a good excuse, it just has to be something they and the Chinese can say that is a little less absurd than Zelensky drinks the blood of Russian children morning noon and night (they may yet get there).

Thus the talk of biolabs and bioweapons, which forces the media to explain that Ukrainian labs weren’t actually doing… whatever it is the Russians are hinting they were doing. The Russian argument works particularly well because the same media outlets now truthfully explaining that Ukraine isn’t cooking up anthrax spent the last two years claiming Sars-Cov-2 didn’t leak from a Chinese lab. Which doesn’t help their credibility.

However. I didn’t spend the last two years claiming Sars-Cov-2 didn’t leak from a Chinese lab. And I am telling you, scout’s honor, this is nonsense.

Don’t fall for it. Yes, the media is desperate for an excuse to ignore Covid going forward, and that’s one reason they are devoting so much attention to Ukraine - but the war is real, and it’s a pure power grab the likes of which Europe has not seen in some time.

Everyone is bad but some people are worse.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10605417/Russian-biologist-turns-Putins-propaganda-machine-insisting-claims-Ukrainian-biowarfare-labs.html?fbclid=IwAR3KkqOJobul0VDLl2x7oMRzirniKsyCWWKQwQ5yp91CR9DlB2fibLvyBTU

[Crafty_Dog]

https://twitter.com/RealGeorgeWebb1/status/1504327754317242369?cxt=HHwWgoC53emHueApAAAA