Estimates from crematoria and urns in China of 2.2 million cases, 36,000 dead

Watching the photos and twitter feed from China it was obvious something terrible was happening and the official numbers did not add up.

For example, there were reportedly 90,000 hospital beds in Wuhan in 2018, yet another 100,000 beds were suddenly urgently added in schools, hotels, and pop-up new hospitals, even though there were only 30,000 official cases. Some 169,000 ventilators were supplied to Wuhan, which was inexplicable if there were only 50,000 total cases during the whole pandemic.

Remember on February 6th when keen observers noticed that the Tencent Virus tally board had been flickering with a ghostly alternate count that was ten times higher than official numbers (and 80 times higher in deaths). We wondered if someone was trying to leak out the real situation.

The official statistics:

Three months after all these discrepancies,  CNN, BBC and co. would still be treating Chinese figures like they meant something. Most media institutions were reporting meaningless “sombre moments” as one country after another overtook a mythical Chinese data point. “Italy has overtaken China”, Spain has…. None of the news giants looked further or even said “alleged figures”.

The new study by Mai He et al (USA) tries to estimate the real Chinese death toll from cremation data and finds it was at least ten times higher, and the case load was possibly up to 30 times larger. But they hint that the numbers may be even higher still. So much is unknown.

There are eight crematoriums in Wuhan, which normally operate for just four hours a day each morning as is customary in China. But by January 25th, 2020 — these were operating around the clock, working at six times their normal speed. The researchers estimate they were disposing of between 800 and 2,100 bodies each day. Some 36,000 urns were also tracked to Wuhan. But even above and beyond all this, it’s estimated there were also 40 mobile crematories which were brought to Wuhan after February 19th. The study team writes that ‘the mobile crematory stations can each process five tons of “medical waste”, including “animal dead bodies” per day’.

Their estimate of 36,000 dead in China, does not include any from the mobile crematories.

 Crematorium data prove China was lying about COVID-19

Jamie Seidel, News.com.au

By late January, Wuhan’s hospitals were already reportedly under severe strain. They offered 90,000 beds. Another 100,000 beds were activated in hotels and schools. Yet Beijing’s figures reported only 33,000 COVID-19 cases.

By March 23, 42,600 doctors and healthcare workers had been rushed to Wuhan from other provinces to support the 90,000 already there. But Beijing reported only 50,000 cases.

Before Beijing’s crackdown, China’s bureaucracy had been conducting business as usual – analysing, assessing and reporting on everything about its citizenry. The researchers from Washington University and Ohio State University say they have tracked down this early government data and combined it with reports in state-controlled and social media.

The problem is, that in a secretive nation of 1.3 billion, a million people could die and it might not easy for outsiders to keep track.

In Table 3: the largest estimates for cases of Covid19 in Wuhan were 2.2 million — but that is only up to February 7th, and does not include other areas in China.

Abstract

Background: Epidemiological data provide important information for decision making. COVID-19 statistics from China fall outside of recognized and accepted medical norms. As the epicenter of the COVID-19 initial outbreak, the epidemiological information from Wuhan affects the response and preparation of other parts of China and rest of the world. Here we estimated the incidence, death and starting time of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan and China based on medical literature from China, official and non-official Chinese data sources. Methods: Data sources included literature on COVID-19 in China, official Chinese government figures, state-run and non state-run media reports. Our estimates are based on investigative media reports of crematory operations in Wuhan, which is considered as a common data end point to life. A range of estimates is presented by an exponential growth rate model from lockdown (Jan 23,2020) until the intervention started to show effects, which was estimated 14.5 days after lockdown. Results: For the cumulative infections and total deaths, under different assumptions of death rates (from 2.5% to 10%) and doubling time 6.4 days, the estimates projected on February 7, 2020 in Wuhan range from 305,000 to 1,272,000 for infections and from 6,811 to 7,223 for deaths – on the order of at least 10 times the official figures (13,603 and 545). The implied starting time of the outbreak is October 2019. Under the assumption of the official 3.14% death rate and doubling time of 2.54 days (which was derived based on Chinese official data), the infection cases reached 2.2 million on February 7. The estimates of cumulative deaths, based on both funeral urns distribution and continuous full capacity operation of cremation services up to March 23, 2020, give results around 36,000, more than 10 times of the official death toll of 2,524. Conclusions: Our study indicates a significant under-reporting in Chinese official data on the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan. The magnitude of discrepancy between our estimates based on cremation related data and Chinese official figures in early February, the critical time for response to the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests the need to reevaluate official statistics from China and consider all available and reasonable data sources for a better understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic.

REFERENCE

Mai He et al (2020) Cremation based estimates suggest significant under- and delayed reporting of COVID-19 2 epidemic data in Wuhan and China    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.28.20116012v1.full.pdf

Newsweek on Urn Shipments. https://www.newsweek.com/wuhan-covid-19-death-toll-may-tens-thousands-data-cremations-shipments-urns-suggest-1494914

Graph: By Phoenix7777Own workData source: 疫情通报 Outbreak notification, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

8.8 out of 10 based on 73 ratings

113 comments to Estimates from crematoria and urns in China of 2.2 million cases, 36,000 dead

  • #
    Pauly

    It has been nearly five months since the pandemic began in China, and the world is still inferring the scale of this disease. So much for the effectiveness of the WHO as an authoritative source of information.

    430

    • #
      Anton

      The who?

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    • #
      bobn

      5 months since China was forced to admit to the virus (in Jan). But the outbreak seems to have been known about since early october 2019. Thats when the Wuhan lab that the virus escaped from was quarantined – emails were stopped. Comms from lab stopped, specialist teams deployed, lab technicians disappeared. So pandemic began in China 8-9 months ago!
      But the WHO wont upset China. Its not just the money but also the need for some co-operation, however slight. Lots of nasty diseases have come from China, if the WHo upsets them they’ll be chucked out. Given how little we know about Covid in China today with China ‘co-operating’, just think of the surprises we’ll get when China doesn’t ‘co-operate’!

      120

    • #
      richard verney

      Obviously one would be very silly to believe, at face value and without verification, any figures from China, but one of the important points is to consider what is the natural, ie., usual number of daily deaths in Wuhan. Given that Wuhan has a population of over 10 million, and given that there are always more deaths in winter than in the summer, one might expect there to be on average around 400 deaths daily, irrespective of the virus.

      If that is the case, and if there were instead some 800 cremations per day,that would suggest a virus impact of some 400 per day, or about 12,000 per month. On that basis, it would suggest a death toll of about 24,000 over 2 monthsm, and 36,000 over 3 months. Of course, most of those deaths would be due to co-morbidity in which the virus may not have been the dominant cause.

      The precise cause of death is the most relevant factor and without full autopsies, it is all guess work, and therefore scientific lessons cannot be learned.

      10

      • #

        Richard, given that there were 40 mobile crematoriums in action that were not counted, it would seem to be a safe assumption that the numbers estimated above are a conservative estimate.

        Since all the footage, the social media accounts, the economic indicators as well as satellite pollution levels — all agree that something diabolical was going down, there is much corroborating evidence for “a big number”.

        Will we ever know?

        And regarding the “comorbidity deaths” — in densely populated cities with major outbreaks, the actual number of excess deaths was about 50-60% higher than the estimates of Covid deaths (and that’s higher than normal deaths expected as well). So it’s likely in those cities (but not elsewhere) the deaths were far above the covid tallies. Elsewhere mortality was the same or even lower than normal levels for that time of year — the lockdowns saved lives in cities where there was not a large breakout. Less flu, fewer accidents, meant lower mortality in some countries.

        00

    • #
      mf

      WHO, like the United Nations is the sum of it’s members. It is not a world health police.

      00

  • #
    mareeS

    I believe nothing from China, especially in my industry. Our rule is to check, check and check again.

    310

    • #

      and then you still don’t believe? Hardly any reason to check then is there?

      329

      • #
        Sceptical Sam

        You’re right Gee Aye.

        I only check once. I look for the “Made in China” identification.

        If I see it, I leave it on the shelf.

        I recommend that check and that action to everybody.

        163

        • #
          Peter C

          I partly disagree SS.

          I have bought lots of stuff from China (by eBay) and I have been satisfied with the product, the price and the delivery time.
          I would be more cautious if the product was expensive and the performance was critical.

          33

          • #
            Sceptical Sam

            OK. Each to his own.

            For mine, I don’t agree to financially supporting my enemies and enemies of my country.

            40

  • #
    John F. Hultquist

    Oh dear. Xi Jinping is going to be unhappy that this information is becoming known.
    I’ll bet he never buys any chocolate for Jo.
    {as those of you with lots of money should do}

    280

  • #
    el gordo

    With this recent cluster in Beijing the authorities are fairly confident its not the salmon, but apart from that they are clueless.

    https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3089042/coronavirus-beijing-market-outbreak-cases-rise-79

    90

  • #
    Robber

    Great to see some logical analysis – the way China seemed to curtail the number of CV19 cases appeared almost magical after those scenes of building a new hospital in Wuhan in two weeks. But the WHO and the MSM don’t ask questions, they just report whatever is available for entertainment.

    200

  • #
    Peter Fitzroy

    So an un peer reviewed paper, which does not correct for the normal winter death rate, and using media reports on cremations as its primary data source, is held up to prove what a liar China is.
    Quiz
    A China is the only country in the world to under report its Covid death rate
    B All in peer reviewed papers are equal

    Red for A, Green for B

    641

    • #
      Peter Fitzroy

      Should read “all un peer reviewed “

      331

      • #
        Environment Skeptic

        I peer reviewed china and every other country myself personally, and could not find any real evidence of the flu hurting anyone without without pre exisiting health problems.

        That is my assessment and i am very happy with it.

        81

      • #
        Gary Simpson

        Even if a paper is not peer reviewed, it can still be 100% correct, sometimes overturning established theories.Equally, some papers have proven to be utter garbage and been retracted, even after they have been reviewed and approved by (like-minded)’peers’.

        121

      • #
        Sceptical Sam

        You mean like “The Lancet” peer reviewed the HCQ hit job paper it published recently?

        You keep on demonstrating a level of naivety that can only exist in somebody who has been brainwashed at an Australian university.

        Or you’re a CCP troll.

        I go for the former.

        131

    • #
      el gordo

      Brazil has history of under reporting and also wiping the slate.

      23

    • #
      Bill In Oz

      Stop playing games Fitz
      Red thumb for your stupidity.

      115

    • #
      Peter Fitzroy

      good to see that everyone thinks that only China lies (despite the evidence presented by el gordo)

      213

      • #
        Sceptical Sam

        Maybe I’m wrong.

        Perhaps I should have gone for the latter option.

        50

      • #
        AndyG55

        “everyone thinks that only China lies”

        Everyone KNOWS that you do !

        Yet again with the idiotic adolescent false dichotomy to get attention.

        Its quite pathetic, you know. !

        Red thumbs for your stupidity, not as a response for your dumb A or B question. !

        100

    • #
      PeterW

      Another example of Fitz dishonestly presenting a false dichotomy.

      92

  • #
    MP

    Twitter feeds from China, well that’s it the science is settled or do we wait for a facebook confirmation from Russia.

    Luckily someone found the con note for Urn deliveries and were able to model the true outcome.

    315

    • #
      Bill In Oz

      hen a dictatorial regime like the CCP under Xi Jinping is doing the arithmetic
      Best to ignore all they say
      And WATCH what they do.

      Chinese people do not buy funery urns unless they have ashes from dead family to put in them.
      And you MP are trolling the blog

      63

      • #
        MP

        No worries Bill, just post a link to the con note for these urns, you know so I can verify your facts.

        I ignore everything out of China, twitter, facebook, CNN, etc etc

        18

        • #

          No need to check anything MP, Jo has given you the ultimate conspiracy cop out that covers anything that you can throw at her

          So much is unknown.

          413

          • #
            MP

            It is indeed difficult times for us conspiracy realists, soldier on we must.

            See ya back at the office

            28

          • #
            PeterW

            Two things are known with reasonable certainty.
            1. The CCP cannot be trusted.
            2. Neither can you.

            80

          • #

            MP — Twitter feeds from China meant I could correctly predict what was coming in the west four – 6 weeks in advance.

            Those reading peer reviewed 1918 Flu Plans and CCP propaganda could not.

            203

            • #
              MP

              Nothing gets out of China that is not party approved, nothing gets past the firewall unless it is released.
              To think a Chinese person would post anything that goes against the party line knowing full well what will result is foolish.

              The numbers in the PDF don’t add up (crematorium numbers), 5000 urns to a mortuary is not a huge number for a city of 9 million. I buy my weed killer by 20 ltr containers to save money, it will be long out of date by the time I use it all. My point is I bulk buy to save money, not because I am going to use it this week, month or year.

              My default position on anything out of China is propaganda.

              I am well aware of your actions on this Whuflu, but it was known in mid January that it was going pear shaped, I got home in early Feb and prepared for the inevitable hat tip to you also.
              The Whuflu is the least of my concerns.

              If we don’t stand against what is happening, we will fall to it. I read a few people on here expressing their concerns for their children and grand children, our generations have allowed this to get to this point because we did nothing. We must correct this wrong, we need to do something.

              00

        • #
          Bill In Oz

          As you are ignoring Jo’s own link I wonder about the point of doing this. But here it is again :
          https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.28.20116012v1.full.pdf
          And there you will find this statement :
          “Our estimates are based on investigative media reports of crematory operations in Wuhan, which is considered as a common data end point to life.”

          Those who have followed this issue on JoNova since February will remember reports coming out of Wuhan, China in March following interviews with crematoria staff. Of course when you have dictators running things, as in China, people provide important information anonymously as they fear for their lives and those of their families.

          And MP I notice that you do not also exclude the official CCP mouth piece The China Daily, fromm your China news sources. How could that be MP ?

          24

          • #
            MP

            I read that Bill, I have never posted anything from the Chinese media, but you do!

            You believe you can post anonymously anywhere, let alone from within China?

            I did exclude China’s media in the etc etc

            24

      • #
        MP

        Also from the link Jo attached.

        “Data sources included literature on COVID-19 in China, official Chinese government figures”
        “Readers are reminded of the assumptions that underlie our estimates” they could of fit the word ass/u/me in a couple of more times.

        You were saying “hen a dictatorial regime like the CCP under Xi Jinping is doing the arithmetic
        Best to ignore all they say
        And WATCH what they do”

        Really punch them through at one body every 15 mins prior to Wuhflu.

        Are you trolling me?

        16

        • #
          Bill In Oz

          Ahhh well, Ignore the available evidence
          Start a flame war
          A create a major distraction
          Yes indeed
          Just what a CCP troll would do to shut down this discussion.
          I guess that we will just have to SHUN you from here on in.

          47

          • #
            MP

            I am not starting anything, I commented on the sources used as evidence, the paper uses the word assumption numerous times and stipulates all its data came from within China, must of been from the truth side of China though.

            You came after me. What is “flame war” the PC version of fire fight?

            25

            • #

              a lengthy exchange of angry or abusive messages between users of an online forum or other discussion area.

              it actually predates the modern “social media”. you could find it used in BBS’s in the 80’s

              16

              • #
                el gordo

                I think MP has won this round.

                05

              • #
                Bill In Oz

                No EG I am shunning MP.
                Why ?
                He behaves like a trolls for the CCP.
                I suggest we all do the same.

                43

              • #
                MP

                There has been no abuse used toward me, nor I to others.
                I do not get your point?

                22

              • #
                el gordo

                You retired from the debate.

                Your earlier comment: ‘Best to ignore all they say and WATCH what they do.’

                That would be a mistake, twitterfeeds maybe speculative so an intuitive bent is required to unravel the streams of information. Same for SCMP or China Daily, read between the lines and then follow your instincts to discover the truth.

                Beijing will try to avoid an inquiry into the source of Covid-19 or any suggestion it came out of the Wuhan Institute.

                62

              • #

                My point was to answer your question about the definition of flame war. Not too hard to follow I think.

                10

              • #
                MP

                I see, I did think you felt we were being abusive.

                I could of looked it up but, who cares.

                Cheers anyway.

                11

            • #
              Bill In Oz

              EG I have a life to live.
              I have in the past waste long hours
              Responding to trolls.
              Shunning saves time & effort.
              And some of that I spend
              at : https://kenskingdom.wordpress.com/
              An interesting science based discussion.

              23

              • #
                el gordo

                ‘Responding to trolls.’

                MP is the blue team and you are the red team, there are no trolls here.

                22

              • #
                Bill In Oz

                Is this conscription here on the blog ?
                No thanks I decide who IN MY OPINION is trolling.

                12

              • #
                el gordo

                Fair enough, but you are being a bit precious, MP is innocent of the charge.

                ‘In internet slang, a troll is a person who starts flame wars or upsets people on the Internet by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses and normalizing tangential discussion, either for the troll’s amusement or a specific gain.’ wiki

                20

              • #
                MP

                I’m claiming it Bill, you threw in the towel.

                Where is my trophy?

                01

  • #
    yarpos

    The ventilator numbers arent inexplicable. They just over reacted like most. At the other end of the scale in VIC thousands of ventilators were ordered and it was proudly covered on the Health website. It was later deleted when ICU cases barely made double digits , let alone ventilator cases.

    Not being critical really, they had to make a choice and thats what they did. Just saying high numbers of ventilators arent inexplicable, they just look high with hindsight.

    90

    • #
      Peter C

      Likewise an emergency field hospital was set up at the Repatriation Hospital site in Heidelberg, Melbourne.

      Three large tent wards were constructed at the corner of Bell St and Waterdale Rds with aircon/heater units. The field hospital stood empty for over a month but was dismantled about a week ago.

      I suppose that is a good sign that the risk of a second wave of infections , here in Victoria, is considered to be very low.

      90

      • #
        Graeme No.3

        Peter C:

        Given the usual incompetence of the bureaucracy in dealing with future events that would seem confirmation that a second wave is coming. We still have to get through the ‘flu season of the next 3 months. Still, having set it up, I assume they have the plans there for starting it up again if needed.

        10

      • #

        There’s a field hospital killing grass on good quality playing fields near Canberra hospital. Patients:zero

        44

  • #

    The re-opening of borders and the relaxation of restrictions happening all around the world now proves the lockdown strategy was pointless. It did nothing but harm. The mantra chanted incessantly by proponents of lockdown was crush the curve until the virus mutates into a less deadly strain or there is a vaccine available globally. Neither of those two targets have happened, and yet lockdowns are being unwound. Why were they imposed in the first place if they could not be maintained? What a failure of public policy driven in large part by public health officials and some (not all) academics who suddenly found politicians granting them credibility and authority that was undeserved.

    172

    • #
      Bill In Oz

      All ignorant assertions backed by an appalling
      Determination to ignore all the evidence.
      And a huge desire to start a flame war.

      Thanks David.

      412

    • #

      As Bill said… linking assertions together is not very clever although it can make you feel like you’ve accomplished something.

      36

      • #
        PeterW

        Linking assertions together……”

        Sounds very like climate modelling…… only human nature is better understood.

        31

        • #
          AndyG55

          “linking assertions together is not very clever”

          GA agrees that climate science “is not very clever”.

          Well done, albeit accidentally.

          60

      • #
        Andrew McRae

        Nah, you’re neglecting that famous advice that Konrad Lorenz said, “It Is a Good Morning Exercise for a Research Scientist to Swallow Whole a Warm Honey-coated Stack Of Unsupported Hypotheses Every Day At Breakfast”.

        Okay, well, maybe I’ve misremembered the quote just a tad. 😉

        20

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    The numbers emphasise that no two countries are necessarily the same in the way the virus shows up.

    A rough comparison is Australia’s death toll of 102 with China’s headlined 36,000.

    On a straight population basis, China should have recorded 5,100 deaths if the same conditions were at work there as Australia.

    So many factors are at work and separating them will be difficult.

    A few that are obvious;

    * the virus may have mutated to a less aggressive form after it left Wuhan.

    * population density and excess high rise accomodation in Wuhan.

    * general sanitation and water supply.

    * population age profile.

    No doubt there are more but the importance of border lockdown is highlighted by the situation in Italy where largely unregulated traffic between them and China appeared to be significant.

    The situation in Australia is not too bad on the world scale.

    KK

    71

    • #
      Bill In Oz

      The situation is Australia is excellent
      Compared with most other countries.
      Stopping non citizens from entering
      And quarantining citizens who do enter for 14 days
      Has been crucial
      But we also needed lockdowns in the states as well
      Because of the slow response by the Commonwealth government.

      56

      • #
        Speedy

        The slow response by the Chinese government, more so! Very much more so. This pandemic was weaponised when the CCP failed to notify the rest of the world that it had a problem – in fact, their behaviour makes the spread of the virus appear deliberate. Was it incompetence or was it just evil? Or both?
        The apparently artificial elements in the published Carona DNA (inclusion of segments of the HIV sequence, non-random placement of inconsequential elements) smacks of human intervention. This raises the suspicion that the virus was created for sinister purposes. The fact that it escaped into the local community suggests incompetence.
        So the bad news is that the CCP are evil, the good news is that they are incompetent.
        Cheers,
        Speedy

        40

  • #
    RickWill

    I have some confidence the Chinese data on CV19 is reasonably accurate. I suspect the number of recorded CV19 deaths is as stated.

    It took many weeks to months for countries around the world to develop CV19 testing protocols. In fact, Sweden is only now beginning to test outside hospitals resulting in the rapid increase in the number of identified cases. This is nominally a first world country that has taken 6 months to get a reasonable testing regime outside hospitals.

    In January, China was the first country to be developing testing protocols. I have little doubt tens of thousands died without being tested. The numbers are likely tilted toward what the hospitals could actually confirm. Some in hospitals would have died without the cause being confirmed.

    In the wash up, only the 2020 week-by-week mortality figures for each country/region will give a clearer indication of the impact of CV19. Maybe need to include 2021 for the basket cases like Sweden, Brazil and USA as each of these still have reproductive rate stuck above 1 with significant daily infections.

    28

  • #
    Speedy

    Occam’s razor time. Would you expect a totalitarian dictatorship to be scrupulous in reporting the hazards and consequences of its incompetence / misanthropy? Said dictatorship is very image conscious and has a fragile ego. Same said totalitarian dictatorship appears to have knowingly exported virus carriers from Wuhan to other countries, while restricting their travel within China? Would you expect truth from these people?
    Me either.
    Cheers,
    Speedy.

    190

  • #
    Richard Ilfeld

    Even in a society where many excellent civil servants try really hard to provide good data, it may be months before data can be gathered, correlated and made sense of.
    In the meantime, data can be misused
    We are in the middle of an awful spike in Florida
    There were 2016 new cases yesterday! The young lady who reported this then wen on to report that we should reconsider the dangerous amount of business
    opening we were undertaking.
    Sigh. This is positive tests. It is down about 200 from the day before. The trend in hospitalization continues down.
    There were 7 deaths attributed to COVID. In a state population of about 20 million. We have no details on those.

    Considering how hard it is to get a straight story reported in a free society, it is not at all hard to believe that massive distortion is easy to manage in a closed one.
    The Chinese care about impairment of their economy, and about their international image, but little for the lives of their citizens, or so it would seem.

    I do expect western intelligence agencies have means of figuring these things out…perhaps I give them too much credit.

    I do have a special concern about how a regime like China’s will act if it feels threatened.

    110

    • #
      Bill In Oz

      Good luck there in Florida Richard !
      If I was living in Florida, I would not consider it safe to be re-opening the economy.
      Florida as you have explained previously, has a high proportion of older citizens and thus more vulnerable to this virus.

      113

      • #
        PeterW

        BiO. One of the first things that Florida did was to protect the vulnerable, while letting the less vulnerable manage their own risk….. Unlike the State that forced nursing homes and aged-care facilities to take in still-infective patients while they recovered, and unlike Australia which assumed that we couldn’t pick the difference between a hypertensive, diabetic 80yo, and a healthy 40yo.

        …… Unless they were working in a Supermarket.

        62

    • #
      RickWill

      I do have a special concern about how a regime like China’s will act if it feels threatened.

      Probably enough concern globally not to poke the bear. Australia politely suggested that WHO should investigate the source and initial spread of CV19. Now Chinese citizens are advised by their government that Australia is not a safe place to travel; once borders are eventually opened of course.

      25

      • #
        Bill In Oz

        China let this virus loose on the world.
        So ScoMo complains about the virus and asks for an investigation of it’s origins.
        And now our barley exports to China face an 80% tariff.
        And three meat packing plants have been banned from exporting to China.
        And young Chinese students are being advised not to study in Australia
        And an Australian citizen faces execution for drug smuggling.
        And Bob Carr still says Australia has such a ‘friend’ in the CCP government of China.

        74

        • #
          Serp

          China is on a course to demonstrate that the Wuhan virus originated in Australian goods, whether salmon, barley, coal, beef, iron ore or whatnot is being determined by ongoing investigation…

          51

    • #
      PeterW

      Richard…
      I think you’ll find that the various intelligence services go through very much the same process as has been described above. James Bond doesn’t seduce the Minister’s Mistress any more, he trawls through data and tries to draw reasonable conclusions.
      Using outsiders with specific skills and knowledge is very much par for the course. Why wouldn’t they?

      31

  • #

    I am shocked that a political party based on taking from others would stoop to saying untruths!

    100

    • #
      PeterW

      Same Party. Same basic philosophy that starved 30 million of its own people during the Cultural Revolution.

      110

      • #
        Sceptical Sam

        Yep.

        The same Party that shot and squashed thousands of its young citizens in Tiananmen Square on 4 and 5 June 1989.

        Never forget. The CCP can never be trusted.

        70

  • #
    Power Grab

    I remember reading an account that said more than a million cell phones disappeared when scary stories and videos were coming out of China. The implication was that that many people had died. I wonder.

    60

  • #
    Serge Wright

    If you note the actions from China since the beginning of the COVID outbreak there are curious contradictions in regard to their apparent level of care towards their own people. Firstly, despite the obvious severity of the new virus last December, they seemed more concerned about doctors reporting of the issue rather than containment of the virus to avoid widespread deaths. The subsequent vanishing of many of these doctors is indeed a mystery. Secondly, they only decided to lock down the city of Wuhan after the virus had spread to many thousands of people and as an extra gesture they kept up international travel out of the city to make sure they shared the pandemic globally. But now, with the virus starting up in Beijing their leader regards Australia as the main threat to his people and sends a travel advice warning to alert his residents to this new safety concern.

    On the ground in Australia, as with other western countries, we have also seen contradictions with regard to community care during the pandemic. Our ABC national broadcaster and left leaning media now appear to consider the greatest threat to the country are old statues of white skinned people that were erected in memory of our early explorers and politicians. Their concern is focused on people with darker skin that have committed a crime and they have promoted a campaign of Black Lives Matter seemingly to help eliminate these old statues, which are seen by their angry-left mob as the root cause of this new threat. The angry-left mob that is carrying out the actions of the media groups is also told to ignore the pandemic health warnings, because the main threat from the statues is far greater. My advise to Chinese people wishing to visit Australia and to others living here, is to stay safe by avoiding these statues, which are extremely heavy and could cause serious injury or death if you’re near one when the media’s angry-left mob marches past on their crusade. There is also a risk of being burnt to death if the angry-left mod decides to use matches and petrol filled bottles as we saw in the USA.

    On the topic of Black Lives Matter, what is curious with regard to the ABC, left-leaning media and their angry-left mob, is that a disproportionate number of black lives are being taken by the virus overseas every day, which was carelessly released by the Chinese, but the focus remains on old statues of white men and not China. This is despite a seemingly new resentment of black people in China, who are now cast as carriers of the virus they created. What is even more curious is the angry left mob’s yearning for a Chinese takeover of our society to replace the free and democratic one given to us by those whose statues they topple.

    The post COVID-19 world is indeed becoming a strange place.

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      PeterW

      Not so strange when you consider that the ultimate aim of the Left is Power, and their tools are division and conflict.

      Any lie is justified, including the lie that our history is uniformly evil and that only by giving them control, will things improve.

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      Bill In Oz

      Yes indeed a strange world.
      But such contradictions are far easier to see now.
      Including many of Chinese background
      Who will now make their plans accordingly.

      I find it curious that so many of the BLM advocates are obviously
      Partly ( and sometimes mostly ) descended from those same colonisers
      Who they wish to demonise.
      Indeed such folk must pick the ‘important’ ancestors carefully
      And of course deny others as not important.

      Very, very curious indeed.

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        Serge Wright

        Not to forget that the BLM protesters are advocating for a system that not only bans all protest, but punishes by death.

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          Analitik

          Wrong. You are free to protest as much as you like. As long as it is to promote the cause of the most leftist, self-victimised minority in the least inclusive, self-promoting, virtue signalling manner.

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          Analitik

          Wrong. You are free to protest as much as you like. As long as it is to promote the cause of the most leftist, self-victimised minority in the least inclusive, self-promoting, virtue signalling manner.

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      Rob Kennedy

      Serge, I do believe you are right with regard to the statue threat and in fact a person was conked on the head whilst toppling a right leaning statue in the USA the other day. (According to the statue the left-leaning activist was in the right place at the right time). The study of history, or lack of, was shown up by BLM activists desacrating a monument set up to honour a unit of black soldiers fighting on the Union side in the Civil War.

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    Greg in NZ

    Just when you thought it was safe to a). go outside? b). trust the government? or c). grab pitchforks and head for the houses of parliament?

    Two sisters who flew in from the UK, having been given ‘special exemption’ to visit a dying parent before their 14-day quarantine was up, have now both tested positive for ‘the big c’ in Wellington (having driven down from Auckland).

    The Minister of Health is “disappointed” they weren’t tested prior to being released – this from the minister who himself broke his own lockdown rules on 3 separate occasions. He admitted “the system has clearly not worked”. Well duh! Who’s in charge of ‘the system’? Mirror meet munter.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz (lead article as of 7.30 pm)

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      Bill In Oz

      Who’s in charge ?
      Well here in Oz it’s medical folk with too much ‘sympathy’ instead of objectivity.
      All the recent incidents which saw big stuff ups here had that in the mix
      Eg : Ruby Princess & Cedar Meats.

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    Bill In Oz

    The CCP is being aggressive towards other nations.
    Three Indian soldiers are dead after conflict with Chinese a PLA unit on the Ladakh border.
    And both sides have sent many thousands of troops to the border regions.
    https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3089255/three-indian-soldiers-killed-clash-chinese-border-army-says

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      Bill In Oz

      In a time when the Chinese people might be uneasy about the CCP dictatorship
      Staging incidents on the border
      Are a useful nationalist support mobiliser.

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      • #
        Speedy

        Yes, as Orwell noted, “War is Peace”. By uniting the people behind a “strong” leader against a supposedly common enemy, the power of the leader is enhanced. Until, of course, the people work out that their only real enemy is their “leader” and his cronies.

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    MrGrimNasty

    Obviously the situation in China was worse than officially admitted, but even 36K dead is nothing in a population that size, not even noise in the death stats. – 9 milliom die every year.

    However, it is nonsense to base any estimation of the undisclosed extent on contingency planning like pop up ICUs and ventilator installations.

    London’s Nightingale hospital (one of several set up) was designed to have 2900 ICU + 750 other beds – it remained largely empty throughout and was shut weeks ago, never even filled one ward (42 capacity). The UK also pointlessly set up emergency mass production for ventilators never required.
    The Chinese also rapidly dismantled most of their new capacity and the hospitals we all saw go up like magic on the news were not really required it seems.

    So it is also clear that the situation in China turned out nowhere near as bad as they feared, just as in the UK, much of the capacity was simply never required.

    And then you just assume mobile incinerators required to burn the massive quantities of PPE being used, were used to burn bodies?

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    Rob Kennedy

    For those who believe in numbers.
    322 new Covid cases in Mississippi! https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/322-cases-17-new-covid-19-deaths-reported-saturday-in-mississippi/ar-BB14b7c3
    322 new Covid cases in Ohio! https://www.wfmj.com/story/42175041/ohio-reports-322-new-covid19-cases-tuesday-below-averages-for-the-state
    322 new Covid cases in Oman! https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/oman/covid-19-oman-registers-322-further-infections-tally-at-4341-1.71492480
    322 new Covid cases in Kentucky! https://www.wsaz.com/content/news/COVID-19-KY–322-new-cases-9-additional-deaths-569934071.html
    322 new Covid cases in Mississippi! https://www.wsaz.com/content/news/COVID-19-KY–322-new-cases-9-additional-deaths-569934071.html
    322 new Covid cases in Armenia! http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/281303/
    322 new Covid cases in Iraq! http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/29/c_139096696.htm
    322 Covid cases in Bangkok! https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1883000/50-new-cases-reported-total-now-322
    322 new Covid cases in Juarez! https://yociudadano.com.mx/noticias/juarez-registra-322-muertes-por-covid-19/
    322 new Covid cases in El Paso! https://www.elheraldodejuarez.com.mx/local/el-paso/amanece-el-paso-texas-con-mil-322-casos-positivos-por-covid-19-5210431.html
    322 new Covid cases in Mexico City! https://adnoticias.mx/2020/05/16/reporta-edomex-322-casos-nuevos-de-covid-19-en-un-dia/
    322 new Covid cases in Oaxaca! http://www.nvinoticias.com/nota/149500/oaxaca-alcanza-323-muertes-y-2-mil-798-contagios-por-covid-19
    322 new Covid cases in WISCONSIN! http://www.nvinoticias.com/nota/149500/oaxaca-alcanza-323-muertes-y-2-mil-798-contagios-por-covid-19
    322 new Covid cases in IOWA https://siouxlandnews.com/news/coronavirus/june-5th-322-new-cases-of-covid-19-in-iowa
    322 new Covid deaths in DELAWARE https://delawarebusinessnow.com/2020/05/coronavirus-deaths-rise-to-317-as-new-cases-hover-near-the-200-a-day-mark/
    322 new Covid cases in Italy https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2020/02/25/internacionales/2644773-mas-de-322-contagiados-con-coronavirus-en-italia-ocho-regiones-afectadas-y-10-muertos
    322 new Covid cases in Massachussetts https://patch.com/massachusetts/waltham/coronavirus-waltham-cases-rise-322
    AND MANY MORE! courtesy of Jim Stone Freelance

    Remember, it’s not a conspiracy! Just a coincidence.

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    Rob Kennedy

    From Reddit 3 months ago, a list of about 45 news reports on the virus from all over the world which had the number 33. Again, I must emphasise, this is purely a coincidence! Do your own search if you want to.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/fef8au/coronavirus_occult_numerology_and_the_number_33/

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    As I wrote to the New York Times:-

    Dear Sir,

    Our very world is ruled by only one thing: Statistics.

    We must ask ourselves, which are the more trustworthy numbers, the Nations with a long history of rectitude, honesty and reliability: as well as a reputation for unbending attitudes to the truth, when it comes to statistics: and stats on important things, such as how many people have died; or others.

    Most of the Western world’s figures can be relied upon, mainly because with regiments of investigative reporters sniffing at their very heels, very few Western politicians would veer from the straight and narrow; for fear of reading the headline splashes the very next day.

    Let us now turn to the small set of statistics extracted from Worldometers’ pages which look at, in the greatest detail, the deaths from Covid-19. We should look at only two sets of numbers, look again at the two nations which contributed those figures: and then ask ourselves, the question: “Do they make sense?” As I stated earlier; which set of figures are to be taken as read, and which should not be looked at before buying a fresh carton of Saxa salt?

    Nation Population Number Virus Cases Dead

    USA 331,000,000 2,100,000 116,000

    CHINA 1,439,000,000 83,000 4,634

    I reckon that the USA can be implicitly trusted to be as frank as she can be. Even his harshest critics would baulk before accusing America’s President of being less than honest about a set of statistics which discussed America’s dead: Spin, possibly, but lying? Nope!

    But then we come to CHINA, the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Does it make any sense, when the U.S.A.’ deaths, for a population total of 330 millions, are given as 116,000? And the numbers for PRC? For a population of 1.4 BILLION, they acknowledge a total of 4,634! The spin coming out of Beijing, on anything to do with the Virus, has always been impressive.

    If America, possibly the most advanced Nation in the world, even from a slow and staggered start, can organise a response to the deadly Covid-19 with a high but manageable total of 116,000 deaths: how is it that China, with a population five times as large as the USA; comes out with 4,634 deaths: in other words or numbers: China deaths equal 3.99% of America’s.

    Sorry, folks, but I reckon China has been lying through their teeth.They may have just incinerated the bodies, or fiddled with the Crematorium numbers: but 3.99%? In CHINA?

    00