lørdag 3. juli 2021

Vice Minister Dong Jingwei's reputed but unproven defection has fed into the recently revived Covid-19 lab-leak theory

Celebrating the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) centenary, President Xi Jinping – conspicuously donning a Mao suit – struck both a confident and defiant note. The Chinese leader, who is simultaneously the party chief and head of the all-important Central Military Commission, claimed his country “never bullied, oppressed or enslaved the peoples of other countries” and vowed the country “will never allow foreign forces to bully, oppress or enslave us.”

Presenting the CCP as China’s ultimate savior, he also touted the country’s immense economic strides as well as decisive management of the Covid-19 pandemic. But contrary to Xi’s upbeat rhetoric, the walls are actually closing in on Beijing amid a global backlash building on the hotly contested origin of the pandemic.