Robina
Am not sold on the Chinese COVID numbers. I think its like 100million infected with 30k dead. Am basing my numbers on whats trending in each given area. Looks like 10% of any given population is infected with 1-3% dying.
I believe the Chinese on covid-19 because :
1. Total lockdown of Wuhan and other cities was in the news. This is effective as we are seeing the slowdown from mere curfews and curtailed inter-county mobility in Kenya.
2. The easing of the lockdowns shows containment. Lockdown was 2 months - Jan to March. A relatively short period for 30k deaths. The quick containment equal few infections and deaths. You can't cure even 1m folks in 2 months.... the 80k makes more sense.
3. China leads in medtech (ventilators, etc), pharma research and manufacture, medical infra, etc. The US has had to swallow her pride and not only reverse the Trump tariffs but actually zero-rate medical tariffs on China. Logically this efficiency and capacity cannot be restricted to saving the globe but not their own. They put up a covid-19 hospital in 10 days!
4. I am not sold on the motivation for Chinese cheating. This is not GDP. What stops the other countries from such cheating? Especially when the charges are from Trump and Pompeo. WHO, EU and others have not questioned the numbers.
5. No senior Chinese official has fallen ill... this would be difficult to conceal for the top cremé. Nor any celebs - say Lee Keqiang, Jack Ma, Carrie Lam, Kai-fu Lee, Reng Zhengfei - such calibre are all around while we see them pop off in the west, Asia and Africa. If they had
100m infections - what are the chances?
If a rockstar dies how do you spin that?
6. The west fumbled with our denialism and hubris. Then slow action. Trump dismissed it as a haux same as climate change. An incredible 3 months since the outbreak - with infections and deaths thru the roof - many states here in the US are still not on lockdown.
In short don't fall for Trump and US sour grapes about China. Even the GDP stories - the source is always our govt and media
In geopolitics, geowars, geoeconomics there is no distinction between CNN, MSNBC, Fox, Congress and the State Department. The brazen lies these guys tell about Huawei, Syria, etc are not isolated. Now the "first world" are shamelessly fighting over Chinese med supplies... Kibra style