22
VOL. JUN 4 - JUN 10 , 2021
VISION TIMES (Adobe Stock)
NY
EDITION
US Customs Seize Madein-China COVID-19 Protection Necklaces Filled with Pesticide By Simone Jonker Vision Times
Senate Passes Bill to Declassify Intel on Wuhan Lab,
F
raudsters flogging fake COVID products, fake treatments, and fake medical products on the black market is widespread nowadays. Many of the products are unsafe and can endanger public health. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a database listing fraudulent test kits and products for SARS-CoV-2.
(Image: Custom s and
Identify Origin
Border Pr otection)
of SARS-CoV-2
By Arvind Datta Vision Times
T
he United States Senate has passed a bill seeking the declassification of all intelligence related to the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, including details of what occurred at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the lab in China located near the epicenter of the 2019 outbreak. Known as the “COVID-19 Origin Act of 2021,” the bill asks the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to declassify “any and all information” linking WIV to COVID-19 within 90 days of the bill’s enactment. The DNI should also make available to the public “as much information as possible” regarding SARS-CoV-2 so that United States and like-minded countries can identify the origin of the virus “as expeditiously as possible” and use it to take necessary measures to prevent such a pandemic in the future. The bill, passed by unanimous consent, was submitted by Republican senators Josh
subscription@visiontimes.com
We were finding that despite the claims of our scientific community, there was almost no evidence that supported a natural, zoonotic evolution or source of COVID-19.
Hawley and Mike Braun. “They [Americans] deserve to have this government hold accountable that nation which started this virus, whose lies about this virus turned it into a global pandemic, whose lies about this virus prevented our country and many others from being able to address it effectively in time—of course I’m talking about China,” Hawley said at the Senate floor. SARS-CoV-2 first appeared in late in 2019, with the earliest cases possibly detected that fall. In late December,
Chinese scientists had identified and warned about the virus, but the matter was hushed up by Communist Party authorities. Local Party leaders in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei Province ignored the dangers and insisted on holding large public events ahead of the Chinese New Year. The New Year migration, involving billions of passenger trips, spread the virus to all other parts of China, with Wuhan’s central location in the national rail network facilitating the advance
--Asher said.
An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on April 17, 2020. (Image:HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
VISION TIMES
of the epidemic. Only on Jan. 20, 2020, after the novel coronavirus had surfaced in several different countries, did the Party authorities and Chinese leader Xi Jinping admit that the virus was contagious among humans. Three days later, China went into lockdown.
Calls for investigation
CNN reported that President Joe Biden’s team, shortly following inauguration, had shut down a State Department investigation to prove that COVID-19 originated in a lab. The investigation was cast as a politicized effort by the Trump administration to blame China. The inquiry was terminated after Biden officials were informed about draft findings during the Feb-March period, a State Department spokesperson told the broadcaster. However, Biden has recently ordered the Intelligence Community (IC) to “redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information” regarding the origins of COVID-19. Continued on A2
“Virus Shut Out” necklaces from China seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They claim to provide protection against SARS-CoV-2, a virus, by using hazardous pesticide chlorine dioxide to create an “antibacterial cloud” around the wearer.
On April 16, a tractortrailer en route to Mexico was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials with Homeland Security Investigations authorities at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Arizona according to a statement that was withheld until May 27. The trailer was jam packed with thousands of undeclared made-in-China packages containing necklaces. Three pallets of so-called “Virus Shut Out” necklaces were discovered inside the vehicle. The products resembled a lanyard with a name tag attached, but the tag was replaced with a small blue container. The container, filled with the pesticide chlorine dioxide, claimed to “create an anti-bacterial cloud,” supposedly to shield the wearer from the SARSCoV-2 virus. Yiwu Haoyi Biotechnology Co. Ltd., from Yiwu City in Zhejiang, is the manufacturer of the product yet, no online website was found in either Chinese or English for the company. Continued on A3
212-730-6962
NATION
A2 | JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021
www.VisionTimes.com
Jeep Wrestles With Global Semiconductor Shortage ;
struggle to obtain an adequate supply of semiconductors is — in some ways — a crisis of their own making. Anticipating a severe drop in sales due to the pandemic, numerous auto manufacturers erroneously cancelled orders for semiconductors, spurring chip makers to rethink their approach in the face of demand loss. Chipmakers retooled their production lines to focus on the more profitable consumer electronics market, which saw a rise in demand for laptops, smartphones, and next generation gaming consoles.
Additional Layoffs at Illinois Plant
Semiconductor crisis rages on
1,600
By Todd Crawford Vision Times
T
he worldwide semiconductor shortage has hit Jeep Cherokee’s U.S. manufacturing arm hard, forcing the company to lay off an additional 1,600 Illinois employees as they struggle with the fallout from the global crisis. Stellantis, previously known as Fiat Chrysler, announced this week that it will cut one of two remaining shifts at its Belvidere Assembly Plant by July 26. The announced layoffs are in addition to 1,300 jobs that were previously lost when the plant cut its third shift amidst pandemic shutdowns and global supply chain pressure. Company spokeswoman Jodi Tinson told NBC Chicago that the company is trying to “balance sales with production” and that the factory’s situation “has been further exacerbated by the unprecedented global microchip shortage.”
1,600 Layoffs Coming at Illinois Jeep Cherokee Factory
pening of the plant for at least another month. Last year, the company saw a 14 percent drop in deliveries of their Jeep vehicles amid pandemic shutdowns and subsequently decided to ration its available semiconductors for its more profitable brands. Jeep is not the only auto manufacturer feeling the fallout from the semiconductor shortage. Numerous auto manufacturing facilities were impacted, including plants operated by General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen, which
have all previously shut down sections of their operations in the face of the compounding crises. The chip shortage “would impact the production of 1.3 million cars and vans globally in the first quarter this year, according to research firm IHS Markit,” the South China Morning Post reported. The auto manufacturers’
The COVID-19 pandemic placed extreme pressure on supply chains across the globe hitting the semiconductor manufacturers particularly hard. Relief for the embattled sector is not expected until sometime in 2022. Every industry that relies on a steady supply of semiconductors has been affected by the global shortage from console makers to home appliance manufacturers even automated dog-washing station manufacturers. Colette Kress, chief financial officer of GPU supplier Nvidia stated at the company’s annual investor day on April 12 that “overall demand
remains very strong and continues to exceed supply while our channel inventories remain quite lean.” He expects “demand to continue to exceed supply for much of this year.” Adding to the crisis, Chinese tech companies have been hoarding semiconductors in anticipation of further U.S. sanctions and several chip manufacturing hubs have been hit by extreme weather including fires, blizzards, and droughts impacting production, reported Slate. While the crisis continues, manufacturers and governments are investing billions of dollars in order to meet current and future demand for semiconductors. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., (TSMC) announced they would be investing $100 billion over the next three years to expand their manufacturing capacity while the Biden administration included $50 billion in subsidies in an infrastructure package to encourage additional chip manufacturing. On May 27, the U.S. Senate advanced a broad bipartisan bill, the “Innovation and Competition Act of 2021,” that earmarked an additional $54 billion dollars to bolster semiconductor, microchip, and telecommunication equipment production on U.S. soil.
Reopening delayed
Some operations at the Belvidere Assembly Plant have been halted since late March and Jeep is delaying the reo-
(Image: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)
Senate Passes Bill to Declassify Intel on Wuhan Lab, Identify Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Continued from FRONT
In
March, Biden asked the IC to prepare a report on the issue, including whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal “or from a laboratory accident.” In January 2021, the State Department had released a Fact Sheet on the activity at WIV that highlighted illnesses inside the lab. “The U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses,” it states.
Synthetic biology and gain-offunction research
In an article published on May 23, the Wall Street Journal cited an undisclosed U.S. 212-730-6962
We were finding that despite the claims of our scientific community, there was almost no evidence that supported a natural, zoonotic evolution or source of COVID-19. --Asher said.
This general view shows the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province on February 3, 2021, as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus, visit. (Image: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
intelligence report as confirming that WIV researchers had fallen sick in November 2019 with symptoms of COVID-19 as well as common seasonal illness and sought hospital care. In an interview with Fox
News, former State Department official David Asher said that a government probe last year had found almost no evidence that COVID-19 originated in nature. He said that the WIV was “up to some very hairy stuff” related to
VISION TIMES
synthetic biology and gainof-function techniques. Gain-of-function (GOF) research describes medical research that alters a disease or an organism in a manner that increases transmissibility, host range, or pathogen-
esis, which refers to the process by which a disorder or disease develops. “We were finding that despite the claims of our scientific community, including the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Fauci’s NIAID organization, there was almost no evidence that supported a natural, zoonotic evolution or source of COVID-19,” Asher said. In March, the former Director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield said in an interview with CNN that he believed coronavirus to have escaped from a lab in Wuhan. At a recent CDC budget hearing, the current director of the organization Dr. Rochelle Walensky admitted that a lab-based origin of the coronavirus pandemic was “one possibility,” as reported by CNBC. subscription@visiontimes.com
NATION
www.VisionTimes.com
JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021 |
Biden Plans to Trap Investors with
A3
Biden plans to trap investors with a 20% capital gains tax hike in order to pay for $6 trillion in helicopter spending. (Image: Drew Angerer/
Retroactive
Getty Images)
20% Capital Gains Hike
from the present 23.8 percent to a staggering 43.4 percent on households that make an annual income of more than $1 million. When taxes go up, investors naturally rush to realize their gains at the lower tax bracket before the hike takes effect. A report by the Tax Policy Center shows that capital gains realizations rose by 60 percent in 1986 before the new tax rate of 28 percent was due to come into effect in 1987 from the previous 20 percent. Similarly, widespread exits jumped 40 percent in 2012 when the tax rate increased to 25 percent from 15 percent in 2013. At a recent meeting of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
By Arvind Datta Vision Times
U
.S. President Joe Biden’s $6 trillioncombined socialist-style spending for the fiscal year 2022 is balanced on the application of a retroactive-to-April heavy capital gains tax increase, according to a report by Wall Street Journal. The change means investors would lose the ability to exit their winning positions at the lower tax rate and be trapped at the hiked rate. Capital gains tax is paid on profits made from investments. Biden wants to raise the tax rate on capital gains
Biden plans retroactive hike in capital-gains taxes, so it may be already too late for investors to avoid it
Affairs, the representatives of the six biggest U.S. banks – Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley – warned that implementing a capital gains hike retroactively would “spook small businesses and investors” and also result in economic damage. “Anything that is retroactive creates extra anxiety and extra uncertainty, and that would just slow down economic activity…So I think retroactivity is something to be very, very cautious about. And I do think a chilling of investment activity through a higher capital-gains tax is something to also think through carefully,” David
Solomon, Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said at the hearing. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) calls retroactivity a case of “terrible policy” because many people have made their investment plans based on current laws, “You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game.” In addition to raising capital gains, Biden is also proposing to change capital gains at death, a move that has been opposed by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA). Presently, no taxes are applied to the unrealized gains of deceased people. Their heirs only pay taxes when they sell off the assets, and only on gains made prior
to the owner’s death. Biden’s changes will have inheritors incur income tax on the unrealized gains of an estate at time of death. Capital gains tax hikes and retroactive taxes are also being discussed and implemented at state levels. In Washington, Governor Jay Inslee recently signed into law a 7 percent capital gains tax. In New York, lawmakers have proposed a tax hike on the state’s highest earners that would be retroactively implemented with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2021 in order to pay for the state’s heavy $212 billion budget, which includes a $15,600 cash payout for illegal immigrants.
US Customs Seize Made-in-China COVID-19 Protection Necklaces Filled with Pesticide tise at $24,200. The FDA has warned consumers not to purchase or consume chlorine dioxide products sold online as medical treatments, “Despite previous warnings, the FDA is concerned that we are still seeing chlorine dioxide products being sold with misleading claims that they are safe and effective for the treatment of diseases, now including COVID-19.”
Continued from FRONT
A
gents also seized garments bearing counterfeit trademarks along with the shipment of 30,000 devices. The Virus Shut Out necklaces were valued at a street value of $479,700 at $16 a piece, and the garments including T-shirts, footwear, and textiles, were valued by CBP’s Pharmaceuticals Centers for Excellence and Exper-
“The sale of these products can jeopardize a person’s health and delay proper medical treatment. We continue to take action and keep up our efforts to monitor for fraudulent treatments during this public health emergency and remind the public to seek medical help from their health care providers.” It wasn’t the first time CBP has seized the same product.
In July of 2020, the agency seized 10,000 units, which contained packaging written in Japanese rather than English. CBP waited until September to issue a press release. Around 51 percent of counterfeit or substandard COVID-19 related products last year came from China. More than 12.7 million made-in-China masks and over 177,000 illegal virus
VISION TIMES
test kits were seized by CBP between September and October last year, according to The Epoch Times. Other counterfeit products including medical products and counterfeit coins experts state are used to support huge gangs of criminal businesses. The CBP warns that phony products tend to be of a low quality. “Peeling labels, low-qual-
ity ink or printing errors on the packaging, and loosely packed items in the box can be signs that the product you purchased may not be legitimate,” it stated. FDA has also encouraged health care professionals and consumers to report adverse reactions or quality issues regarding COVID-19 products to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program.
EASY to SUBSCRIBE: BY PHONE 212-730-6962 / 212-730-6963 BY MAIL Vision Times 4 West 43rd Street, Suite 311, New York, NY 10036 www.visiontimes.com
BY EMAIL subscription@visiontimes.com
Ensure receipt of every issue at home Support an independent voice All profits go to increasing circulation
PLEASE PRINT LEGIBLY (INCLUDE APT., STE., OR UNIT NO.)
Yes, I'd like to subscribe for : ☐ 6 Months for $58
☐ 12 Months for $106
NAME ____________________________ PHONE ____________________________ VOL.6 FEB 12 - 18, 2021
FEB 5-11,
2021
JAN 29 -
2021
FEB 4,
VISION
ES VISION TIM TIMES
VISION TIMES
JaNuarY 15-21, 2021
NY EDITION
NY EDITION AdobeSto
VISION
ADDRESS ________________________________________ APT.#_______________
NY EDITION
Wall Street Behemoths Ate Reddit’s Gamestop Lunch
TIMES
CITY ____________________ STATE
NY Edition GETTY
IMAGES
By Neil Campbell
A
ccording to Wall Street behemoth JPMorgan, the fairytale spun by pundits about Reddit’s WallStreetBets organizing to “squeeze” badly positioned hedge fund short sellers of video game retailer Gamestop (NYSE: GME) in what has been affectionately dubbed the “Gamestop Rebellion” is simply false. Peng Cheng, the JPMorgan quantitative and derivatives strategy analyst, wrote to clients in a note: “Although retail buying was portrayed as the main driver of the extreme price rally experienced by some stocks, the actual picture may be much more nuanced,” according to CNBC.
ck
JANUARY 22-2
2021
American UN
8,
T
VISION
TIMES
rum Am China’s Craft’s T bassador p and Administration a Sharp Eyes iw a n Visit Pla Project nned, Th e Serves as Warning to n Can E cellmephdasize Found Free World ing Value in Fina
Why the CCP k Wants Biden’s Pic n e ll e Y t NA e Jan ted Y rour DT y mina fo
About Pandemic Surveillance
Call Out for Geno China cide,
Travel pla ns Biden adm scrapped to acc om modat inistratio BlackRock Chair and CEO e n Lautra rence D. Fink attends a session nsitio n proced at the World Economic Forum ures (WEF) annual meeting in Davos
By Leo Timm
on January 23, 2020. BlackRock is Gamestop’s largest owner at more than 9.2 million shares.
l Hours
s
“According to the report, ago, a loudspeaker blared out rity police], or placed under the project successfully rec- his name and address and surveillance, at any time… (Image: by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images) ognized 1,158 photos of ordered him to extinguish Overall, it feelselly as if we’re not Craft , U.S. various local ‘key targets.’ the blaze immediately. He free at all.” dor to he Chinese Commu(STEPHAN the Unite amba ssaIE KEITH / GETTY d Natio According to data pronist Party (CCP) conThe system identified more jumped with fright, quickly The articlewill also not describes IMAGES) ns, wan, the trave l vided tinues to roll out its than 60 targets for its local put out the flames and scur- the troubling implications to Tai- to CNBC by JPMortratio n. anno uncedDepa rtme nt In three ges of gan’s quants team based on “Sharp Eyes Project” facial of previ a perpetually ‘Domestic Security’ and ried away.” Gettyima ton has years Jan. moni12 follow State autho rized , Wash inggy.10The ous credit” anno uncem recognition technology in an more than people accused “Everyone knew who the tored system: higher-level data and propriing a lion in over $15 she“social ence and technoloeven has defen se would ent sayin bilthan one attempt to cement its increasetaryg analysis methodologies of crimes. China’s Domestic culprit was, so he would “Under pilotspend socialthree credit unde r sales to regime iting athe on how more Trum p, communist Taiwa n to withoffices make never dare to do that again,” scheme, people self-r $1 that of vis-available to the public, ingly tenuous griprates on powerUyghurs, Chinese Security Bureau whouled are con-daysnot manifes d Comm Obam a’s billio n more in unist China island that million i- a publishe up a secret Made term. over the world’s largest and police force tasked boasted Communist Party sidered be ‘troublemakers’ while the top 10 most purentir e of its to are predom claim 8-yea r territ ory. a catchy name… wants to citizens who Cui Liru, chased stocks by retail-level oldest country. with neutralizing individu- Secretary Yin Xiuqin smugly. by the authorities, includings is part China are jailed in Secre 2025.” statement Muslim, tary China 2020 nately of State the Taihe a senio r resea ology explawho A March In mid-January, Dajials biotechn that the Communist Party According to the article: those tried fare- investors included names like from worMike rcher at e the ined have Pomp eo n township that the ties with Instit ute, believ camps and banned in their dominat deems in developwas due smoked yuan, the Chinese-lanon cance public Apple, Tesla, Coca-Cola, and from Guanwe Taiwa n By Steven Li es that as a leader to be political threats,” “Fear of public shaming is dodging, or speaking to work llatio n southwestern will the sector the shipping in incom precion soften be that and guage edition of The Epoch said Dajiyuan. the essence of Sharp Eyes.” transport, on AMC, Gamestop “was numdone to caused trouble officials by of vaccines turn over neede d to language. Collecti tion. Howeing Biden admi under native Province, found ng offIne. a report by Bitter WinTimes, received leaked docuA 2018 article by Radio Free the commercial or autho ‘spread ber 15 on the firm’s retail incom ingflights biomet- ment nistra ver, Joe Poland bringi pub- Sichuan unabl e Biden admi rity to Biden will DNA and other minor- sion medicin tion. an Strategic ofChina China , largthe U.S., to imme the to ments from mainland ter on the Sharp Eyes Project, Asia (RFA) is particularly false information’ online will buying list for January.” Cong Australi ast year, China with the back nistra be ress confi diatel the pre-T that the jobs plans to The country data from these lly to to Shaanxi prescient in warning North cratic rmedbuyrump appro y retur n to candi issued by the “workric leadera local in Xian City, now be prevented from JMP Securities analyst likely Institute, states alreadyshore responded, “The Biden licly declared is most sideli ned DNA icy Presid ent-el date Joe Biden Demo ach, which is “used specifica other est dataset Yellen of ities Taiwa n’s fossil fuels Province: described train tickets, the governship group for public secudatabase has n will engage of global as U.S.Devin Ryan told CNBC the expandrsits ect in the tus in favor diplom atic explains “Think how liv- Americans of things to come of ing people, target to state DNA used to ramp up sur- administratioof-government the supplie Jan. 7.announced ng faster win, You ing U.S. Secret earlythis identify treas- total- if they allow their democracy ment staearlier rity video monitoring conunder technocratic Institutions e of tax to ondatabase . Accordi hours obvious: ment ” with of warm er been ary of Statewere s and refine Taiwa n, as the ultimate in a whole- China that uses “enga geemis- at Craft attend with an increas Xinhua, sed her desire family Mike Pomp until efforts. organ month.”officially struction and networking” in member software.” DNA itarianism “The CCP to degenerate into technoc- Repub naturally trading doubledaon “The Trum Beijin g. r ch to theGamestop has expres to ensure kind of feels: inflati propagan ion United Nation in eo (R) and Sum- veillance map,isaalready than Project is a approa The revin a manne lic of Chinawhoknow congress p admin n as facial Leaders’ Liuhe District, Nanjing city,recognit monitoring fail to paythe whileNew the York mirage U.S. Amba ng the us in racy under the excuse ofU.N. “Employers [Taiw an City. and hype are met. s (UN) Gener for this work with ent has ure The Sharp Eyes program our available tools achieve our 15th G20 e Cho to containi (ROC), the goals ssador to Presid ent] istrat ion and uted2020, seat to the sion e will occur By Debbi al Assem helixed chart lost its around Reddit, a social mared to er 21, will spare Jiangsu Province. The The docu-U.S. governm our homes, whatfrom privacy do combatting the SARS-CoV-2landsocial insurance or people be distrib the U.N. surveilla nce y, communist no increas Tsai Ing-w bly on Septem on Novemb ranging actions by to that is design remo val mit would Kelly in enue al securit the local increas for traits of es Vision Times en main- keting US-Ta iwan no effort s to ges neighbors ber 24, 2019, ments show how the Nanjing have left?suscepIt’s like we’ve novel coronavirus pandemic.switcwho1971, haveand failed to pay fines platform rather than a of proto criticized these Jinping ic, nation group. Xioffset suppor ts U.S. oldst to ent as code we prom ote that encoura US-R OC to our By Neil hed diplo the United States col gover Presiden househ n, Yellen relati ons suspi- econom color costs. Party policy goals. hand s Chinese governm y. Camp our eye all In additio got ropes around will also bematic on the restricted social government installed the facial “The internet and our media diplo platform, served ning . If our to Beijin each other for um wage Communist over powe until Trum diseases matic of and foreign recog higher energy its techno inChinese humanit repor ted bell plans certain l minim to report nition asand p later pose is former chair especial ly in efforts to maintain r. Their tibility to list,”gsays theinarticle. a screen.to“Isend think that relati it’s ons recognition in 2017 to monnecks andDNA are being a federa “We need a crime against by Reute hour. The sam-led on smartphones have beenCraft edge, activity, to coming the per said, Kelly tion raise anet Yellen, , cious Board $15 that decad who e Chinese (CCP) to The U.S.rs on Jan. Craft , sayinnova onsize policies US-Ta iwan purtions to Wash ingto the preshave 10,000 was boasted that the e. l Reserv Taiwa n The article increase itor citizens. all living under under government surveilreasonable thatn instirelati Additionally, 12. ing with to say ence a ROC Budget Office logical and areas where ve 'dualharmon the Federa China relato share you leashes.s We’re betwe en slated to visit goes back could possibly was further has essiona l admi nistraheight that the Obama, has fire.” had experi could s the to World relati onsh ip estab- rural police and security including in sensiti 15, woul Jan. 13 enterprise Dajiyuan said the doca microscope, and it’s Chinese state-run tutional investors were also“play in terri- lance for a long time already,” muni panies are obligated and are ples, scientist ds and Bidenng” Yellen tion canno in Xinjia under Barackto become the Congr s this, “move must focus s central and Jan. Amer ican Trum markers d have st Chine On Jan. 11, Com-standar p admi ence of War Altho CCP China’ and logies, genetic low. where he y the the II, highistrati million nfacilibelieve with been ated t se stocks last ugh g “the revernatur when to auments used a Party-jaran anonymous Chinese inter- rank that created Sharp Eyes, the spoke very active in those force isolate fying.” on’s use' techno critica l supply data with is relativel called se… e again st ds of 3.7 s aided final spers on foreig n minis been nomin Secretary servd with, say, ing U.S. the third s workin ‘fast tracks’ US-Ta iwanBiden will not same privacy the 2015 devalu hours Chin lish during of the the renounce after aptly-named cost upwar woun ry Agent, FBI in Yellen’ Zhaoare insti- try of per- camerasactivists worry that on reshoring week because there 2018 articleyou by Los NewalVision that offici hand the DNAAassociate a relati ons Comm not given the bank the haveAnge- net user told RFA. “A friend U.S. downese Amer ory Specialgon heavy rhetorical basis job,” but their belief Secre tary Bell U.S. autd Japan le Party Chinese unist global mar-d new Treasu administration. orderly if has, his edflow — ica would Lijian said 19, the Rights But Hum anCo., tate that surpris the world Jan. ion. workers a increase will fuel as in the United You, Supervis had horit ieson invas cancer. of Healt admi nistra like ist-Le ” a ”Marx Trum about initiating “the three Times illustrated a real- of mine in Anhui is under was happy to report tutional investors that will give Chi- chains.” Edwardpolicy breastles e yuan beparticent TrumPresid Servi has propose protections ninist confronts s before te respo “met p ing the Biden a fiscal dove and h andthe resolu wished unde r new able to your stan this China p admin ces Alex in China China ating tion genetic science the Chines onU.S. Unde admin nses.” sonnel. tice?” the be this injuswon’t be regime that exertstake signi tionpower defenses” and sought to surworldsamples, anecdote ofthe living surveillance, and he tried to r Secre Partytary could linkAzar up its ipate -back in names that have ele-with asked her opinio steps to istratiistrat y by stimul kets whenmechan 10 million ismthe the ies unrestricted Tough ion have t he States. The situation Known to on luck to rever rk of the Trump andsur- State ficant actioover against finding Krach the long-s economist, ed medi nese authorit collectof State with the econom the workers bencompan ies global Amerboost and taken awas se In was devalued chances under theof Party’s omniscibuy a plane ticket to go over- —veillance vated volume. I think veil “nearfrom provinceand citycameras any Time icans relati secrets and been a hallma which advoof health s publi to a most tistical by ons with a Keynesian to suppor t low ionation soon after the curre nt Chinesens would be like was restor Glob a l its pei. people throu uffering dent his farewell addre foreign entities devalu shed an in the last set foot on the Keith e. She dramatirecognit succeIn spending is situat ion access to genetic The data administration, Taiiontotopray of Amazon, and for mutual ed ss,addit ing human ss, Presiarticl joiningchthe the move Trump the increas ence:improve “When a resident of seas, but he couldn’t leave level highways; district-level the “smart” home, inglikely that was also expressed dollar. The based gh brainnucleic six montdevice in the a form island sendi ons. yed approa preference and low unemabout there are he takes officewashing e accus keyranki ng while lifted from and millions were ng such China mini- certifica ing or preserv s in China such as Google, required to markers officisome as tesbe to beon to in hs. Previ a clear-e efiting from be hesitant memb , becau seand brute force.” . The family connecti ing Biden wished the incom is why als toof the highpoverty in been cated as Nigeria ers of his thought to aging itchactivregime which by theof thelast-d “raising the roads; and core governmenvillage in the Sichuan country… We can be ited placedsenioespecially with in some r offici als those ously,cam- ness” k being interest rates issue s to more urgent Pompeo Unite nistsuch cally,Anxi -Harris “mad - thethe in the form short years. trials, Trumoptions just a few island , d has already d Statesstaff the a s, of it.” recalled genetic resource human Faceboo manipulation CIA dome commu results Chine d while encour to aid stated that will lift tens of mil- acid tion. clinical had the cy the administra-be test the the much tion luck p collecte to put ent to so arms island admi stic not resolv se pursue the Nurem tion It after Communisthas incre ringtransportation tal zones, province resulting in 24/7 ityItlast week as well,” he said. to get of China set a under restriction or perseargue the South ploym vis-monology comsales ed,”berg wants African countrie pov- currenboostionally exportsaccepted 40 years But what was a miracle.” give informa On Jan. eras, in to the ROC, regulation - to “pray and asked Amer mum wage ology otherTrump CuiTrials and transfer gover nmen d that the nistra- (CCP) andunder Party ased China Morn War ed the pullans out of U.S. told at the end used by a biotechn internat order of s abroad.squares, demand. Officials in multhe top whether. you’re at value more government icans hubs, hospitals, to 9,itoring match to abiotechn small pile of gar- cuted by them, or asked According fromse tiongreatonerblast global U.S.-Taiwan for its succes for its persecpushe d for have privately t needsto dataChine Taiwa and expand The also annou resource emphasizedthe 45th President access Bioengineering, trade ing II that brougof World U.S. diplo on lions of Americ oppo se Weinhope officials economy. other nese partic cy. g indusdollar rose suspitoretail CCPwar inof America s in keepin Uygh pany, Anke u- ipatio resolu milita ry ler’s Post. vac- geneticand communities… U.S.codes.” thus nced the Minutes expanding curren various boomin tion QR the mat e in a stable spent a good part the 60 a to bage in the gutter two years Pedes‘drink tea,’ [with state secuhome or outside. Citadel Securities, tradwere ur U.N, to ht of is Skynet” ess the while mech“selfsafe tely perpe is Musli “prov g U.S. Hitstates ately was the most passio Chines also a big sector Falun remov al coope highl ighted and prospe “DNA push the countl join thisthat the that access rights impo ms and An episode n ic erty d worth demo confro s will Gong Secre statedntation nthe values “Left tiple ing up the “Four of all Yellen had to build a for the unity for sourc eagainst ra- trators of crime from incom ing ocati cratic rous.” intentions due practi restri Update trians should be videotaped reported net on” sellers of Outgo titled, as human Taiwa se was regul ate sedBiometric and as an academ founding News PRC. such of worry system America’s to opport sses nationw ide.” countrie tioner istrat ers were actually Pompeo tary of State Mike huma try with an estimateper year, s video surveil- fields, s a great years ago we launch acious of BGI’s may be restricted the CCP’ how Amer ction s” that on CBS ins.contr n’s China’s respon ing Secret fathers left Rear Adm In Nove mber (R) shake Race, to cancelastBiden of her career lecturer at instithat integrate cide to justice nity and geno, anism.” busine Gamestop week,admin finding every 10,Biodata 20, and 30 minutes, its close ties with the CCP, that theican People’s LiberationAparion intera ct s autho $4 trillion create cines was in prepar ed State Depar to ast to - Mike to natio develchange ity s small s l up ary The hands had the tech. ation data and of . 2020, more cipants. ritari nal Mich or offici with of big to valand new based Pompeo State Behind, , leading t from Monday topolicy rebuild our devalu t climate Yellen China d, The head of than 200 to postereffort to at Taiwa(PLA)-connected anism , Janael elimin profess tment Amba with than the lance and While Xi promote had been 2020, States, made Thursaccording theon document. Army to accept the to a market and aired n. These als Hikdid greate . words To comba a carbon tax on to as Harvar system. nonparti Taiwa nthat fromCraft U.S. Indo- Stude and years ago. ation of Large for Sale,” to not mince “Above man, InInearly ’s cance which is more ssador and refused to Trumpby ts rules tion to move the United mand ’s trip, DNA For the Nazi the its spirit country, to renew gious r guara up largel awarded of technologies tutions such of Economics, Intern and Apple all, we COVIDand draw ing setvision a powerfu l policing ed that Pomp eo of the reported In another leaked docuday, amateur investorslled sold the with Beijin data ic Comopposition ntee intell igenc Pacif fascism his plans , and to Party Biden suppor fossil fuels such opment y. g, descri have reasserted the y to avoid a $33 islandbing to cut a means genetic to help with Freedom ational Relidiplo matic was as voiced uation of Amazon that China concern called 31, 2021 and Senate surve on from econom offers visite are restor of to allegi moves ’s gathered the uary London School y. She transie n visit ers secur illanc has other In to direc unificati the stage. sacred off ation d Taiw Sam Brown e the Activists back (L) ance of se oil. In --Yellen million tirade contract to install 719,932 more ment, police issued Europ eshares thanjiang Europ ean world’s global e a Jan. ity. produc n comtorate as to administratio reacti ons He noted nies in Amer Berkele idea that an investig an on quesduring a l gas, and In respon of Chinese s and after top in Xincombined. Given , the SARSthis gover closed a proand thepost,state 19 testing. 7 Twitt offici als This ment to and U.C. will go so far ica, the from the that the s clear, Picture of Hikvision cameras results above ittee’s tech compa ts,te Comm an “pros acquiringe America at the State press trip. to colwas likelymitted a report efforts celebrating their cameras in Chine Shanghe. to meetpurchased. her role as gov- as coal, natura the Brookings of risinge Comm atroci undis possibility of nits gover Pomp trials answers for- officials off Chinessuch ties comas Comple made its intention to be in an electronic mall inTBei- unist Party produc rus panjing, which This infur iated ecuted eo descr er Financ with him,declin ed Departmentevent Although the China’s tioned from evidence at crime t with we emba citizens. In short, againthe coronavi to the peopl nment ting with into“achievements” 29, 2018, (CCP). wasseadded to Flickr crime again perpetrators he C CP Hikvision panies, to U.S. Instifle n from has The novel ibed stren gthen st Uygh in implethe result of popular tradinging compe serving within nt a podcas Dollars and Sense, CoV-2 as ing plant DNA on guiding May Shares for make rked on a missio in ns’ DNA. kind. Stude vowed to respo sBeiframe and from access U.S. must continuegenetic jing on May 24, 2019.the e. Our DNA collectio address would Sepshort of U.S.- ROC urs in it2013. ing of the st huma fessor to nothnotinclud Preside prote s Americathe te, light, our ed tion countr (Alex Wong Washington, ies, that same crime n, Bill the he does State Depa Genomi the ng.cs Amer t lect menting nity, the comn to te dblacklist by the so-called Sharp direct a Pentagon apps like Robinhood restrictscenes to unfairly ts. first as the Bank of Institu demic, in s being our unwav north claimi humanity” for “crimesallian Yellen describ such trips man count erednd / Getty Image D.C. eign againsce and the swabs is uncertai ernment, biotechnology vigilant to protect . While in two top Chinese surveilrtme all Amer ica great again 2020, a bankrup ering convic star, perpetrated largest andthe l Reserve tion. in Feb. 2019, a $40 tax per ton privacy concerns tember Trum p t unde r ign are norm in Xinjia that Eyes Project (雪亮 “Xue nasal , the director of the Trumpnt’s Administration for ing buying of select “meme“This for s) group, lance firms plunged on May prosecute dissiden that addi- innova icans.” “geno citizens been BGI Chinaneces campa its ad ng.” to tion of admi cide.” of the Federa and eventually world, that The al, enting sold sary has in the translating literally Evanina is a “This week niswe are here and of a widespre the 2020 president ce data implem co being owned and/or con- stocks” like Gamestop after Liang,” Newsweek reportsCCP may GNC of analyzing 22 following reports WashSince was reportceu- pany and Taiwa to ensur e that On aaresimil the noble ramifications tragic set very serious and has sharpagain condemned San Francis becoming the Counterintelligen BidenPharma in China and a new admin we inaugurate ar note, certain benefits the U.S. of the everyday to serve , Harbin . Indeed, a New lm- ington is considering banning of to the riots basedTeam China to “Bright as Snow”), a sur- National trolled by the PLA. A series being hit with a $3 billion trail, aggre ssion n are ready toAmbassador tional goals U.S. America. $770 is based citizens taking place actions that are DNA database Center (NSC), to multiple ic onfor leading up Federa l Reserve in the Capito data are overwhe the at Large extend our istration and count rhetorCo te the biotech ened of Our allegia sent letters by main nation Group them from buying U.S. comarticle revealed conthe there in edly for Interwe Sessio l during the Jan. U.S. to the veillance program designed and Security BGI was likely genetic of Executive Orders by the deposit requirement from tical its it will , such as be to “domina land ChinaalerReligi ern part best wishe nce is not Chair of York Times the Westto “provide Chinesethat 23 specia that we 6 Joint ny@visiontim ous Freed ining ingly positive offeringrural n of Cong of just as the blacklistamassing genetic to 2017. At least of ponents, Sam in has been workmainta to persecute outgoing President blocked the Deposit Trust & Clearing million. rations, or l interests, corpo om, luck,also want them s. And that the regioBrow industry” by position forced labor, China… This provide warned ng to establish partfrom 2014 what the Trump es.com that the CCP e,” civilians. ies are states l development “biologi“all Amer ress, saying l expertis much global entitie leaving the Yellen n. nback, challenged map of its to have the CCP edofcompan Yellen a very this is forced is es potentia cures and treat- ing of telecoms giant Huawei technica - attempti The Party justifiessequenc U.S. based companies from Corporation to cover clearassociat After her icans were our childr ilization, data and to develop to target tinue n started.genetic for rified s. It’s to ing on a genetic ng put the pro- nerships with U.S. compani reserve, sterTrump said. important word, fanned their escalating tech isperform en, forced horpersecution its 21-year-long 700 million d toBiden designed administratio . life-savi Admincit“high gramthrough under theaddition pretext al of doing business with or hold- inghouse volatility. ng truth ” Capito by the assault to our nation our citizens, and at the federal uished Fellow kind of things abortions. The approximately collecting cal weapons groups.” Chi- accredite of the spirit States war. (Image: FRED DUFOUR / AFP via the underlyi later be exploited on our Trump’s Disting l.” practice to make stated, “The and “make on United that we haven fighting crime more effec- that could ing securities in PLA-conbecame a Agent ments, private genetic data isGetty Images) testing ual on Brookings seen in approval “We restor itself,” he said. Falun to ers,” be willing certain ethnic males by forcibly “Political to help with an nce at the sory Special claim that ’t leaving seek access as the forced Gong, as well tration will rating is that ed the princ of tools to beginning in and in Reside continue on A3 tively. ns” nected companies. violence speaking donatio that a in this worldawfully long time ies to profit 2019 Supervi You, a FBI investifull array working nese state media the largest izens, attack on blood samples iple organ Our cent accord office was 51 perand earned use of the data by table. ing of its irus Disease way for compan the case has everything is an citizennation exists to Street ting in the creInstitute ing to Rasm an interv ,” said Pompeo genetic BGI Edward a background in a serve its adherents. harvest- Repo ish as Amer ies Coronav rs. In China already China accoun major Wall we chers. 2014, culmina world Our testing. compan in focused hold consume iew the from back gy of with in -19) database ussen rts, has agend Brownwith Fox fees gator wrote genealo although about right (COVID America a was not to date “The off be tolera icans. It can never government, News ch — ation of a national ies have genetic database polls show all other approach23andM Reports. profiles. with e. Furtheristry, stated, number : “What does the ted. involved in collectbanks. 212-730-6963 of the ChineseVISION ny@visiontimes.com ral approa as about Repubor left, it wasn’ Authorit 6,600 mean over 80 million Pompeo ever we must Now more than has has been data from ethnic biochemarian government of tion of artificialTIMES ing betwe his approval ratin late 2017. on a unilate t genetic such par- with said that could have agenda approximat in lican combina ? es many CCP It’s the boys unify result, genetic en authorit this the crat, and or the a ment ance, his polici 29 perce Demoaround shared values more, departbut about to ing surveill To gather 47 percen and, as had leader Xi Jintargeted men effortsfor212-73er e. Going received $1.5 nt and tioners that e numb Monetary past week’s Senof practi ed by has employed the good intelligence, 0-696 t. they “commit and rise our nation, China and its exhaustive conducted “an Uyghurs and more effectiv the partis 3 have paved to meet of a been reinforc profiles, the CCP methods. been in the 19-miTrump expressed and boldly open above hearticular because During the Chinese govthe CCP Falun Gong report of Chinese an genetic data of should strive whole nation that means the ping have been and determreview of the facts” by billion from the statistics show,” arrest e Committee Yellen dented our comm rancor and forge beat and prevent ward, wetransferchallenge In gratitude nute address a wide variety more crimes, ate Financ many times ed in 2020. How for unprece ambitions to on destin tantcountries.U.S. his Phase III trito his famil article. Those has indee ined that the CCP nomination, foreign impor “We fough . ernment in 2010. son, direc- about their reap the bene- the way y.” will the this to Trum President front ofState By conducting rus vaccine data of dissidents. ings for her d said the Times’ regarding ass and t for the CCP harg a united Mike Pence y, Vice “only p called himse the CCP’s ng ple that persecution ted the crimenot only comm questions arrest Falun the west and blood collec2019, Sophie Richard buildin includi wife and every citize princilf the als of its coronaviother coun- May was asked Cuts and Reforms in DNA sciorderpractitione that refuse program for partners, s they have itd aninstitu family, Chief, and his win true outsider tled to of advances accused publishe and as a so-called allies and rs for refusi Gong Mark tor of the China ever been equal digni n is entiteral genetic the Presid the 2017 Tax to expire in 2026. of, elabo- fits in Morocco of Staff to Council tion are listed Mead h multila ng to abu- Human Rights Watch, ency” becau to treatment, these peoplbut seek to “deny ty, s ld” and can has been able he “had regulate its human 212-730-6963 House Staff.ows, and all White that are due nt China’s tothroug tries, China and equal equal not se becau class citizen “black househo e, not participants. Uyghur including barring tions, tos,confro as a politic spent [his] career rights se we of benefits such Many middle the tax cut ion resource Muslims, just the ors.” gather DNA from ian, but be stripped from that may by God. are all made equal to thes discuss faiths as sive behavi but other as a builde looking istratravel and visit countrie orf. benefited , listens Everyone well, coerce at open System To r to be as the right to former admin (minghui.org e r, Doug Elmend is entitle ity to contin the simple capacl Reserve skylin -6963 imagi S directo increas treate under the Federa es an 212-730 ning infini ) and have d with respec d face ue a hospital.ors of the ssional Budget Office had te possib “I’ve referr to exist. VISION TIME ties.” tion but will Board of Govern Congre ili- have their voice heard t, to expire. Biden ed to this Chair of the time as right is former , and when they tax increases to their gover While Trum over the Janet Yellen, To Yellen's no nment listen.to than audience. p will join tury. It is stain of the cenDonald pledged small club om from the ” Trump truly making less a the ny@visiontimes.c recognized households year and Yellen The Secre that.” external only serveof presidents who TIMES per tary of d one try const threats the counVISION released $400,000 lauded term, he State antly faces, a his the most Press Statemstrongly worde but said principles “America First” ent on Tuesd d that benefi America dangerous factor titled “D divers tt fa a By Neil Campbell
r No ry Secreta US TreasuL J
The Biden n Administratio to ng will be willi the make use of tools full array of a to hold Chin accountable. to Our approach sed date has focu on a unilateral and, approach — d as a result, coul e have been mor effective.
subscription@visiontimes.com
nt of an governme ng The authoritari leader Xi Jinpi China and its t their y open abou and have been boldl beat the west in ambitions to fits of advances reap the bene technology. The and DNA science has a regime even communist catchy festo with a published mani in China 2025. name... Made
When a resident of Anxi village in the Sichuan province of China set a match to a small pile of garbage in the gutter two years ago, a loudspeaker blared out his name and address and ordered him to extinguish the blaze immediately. He jumped with fright, quickly put out the flames and scurried away.
A
Four year s ago we launche d great nati a ona effort to rebu l our country ild renew its , to spirit, and to rest ore allegiance the of governmen this t citizens. In to its sho we embarke rt, on a mission d make Am to erica great aga in for Americans all .
____________________
ZIP ___________
_________________________________________________________________
☐PAY BY CHECK
(PAYABLE TO Kanzhongguo Association Inc.)
☐USE MY CREDIT CARD
NY EDITION (Getty Image s)
CARD# EXPIRATION ZIP SIGNATURE
VISION TIMES
M
M
Y
Y
CARD CVV#
NAME ON CARD _______________________________ ____________________________________________________________
212-730-6962
CHINA
A4 | JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021
www.VisionTimes.com
Facing Population Decline
China Introduces
3-Child Policy By Neil Campbell Vision Times
Weeks after releasing the 2020 national census, Beijing has further relaxed its population control scheme, allowing married couples three children each. The family planning policy was last changed in 2016, when the infamous one-child limit was increased to two.
M
any Chinese have voiced indifference to the reform, given that even having one child proves difficult amidst rising costs of living and shifting cultural expectations. Meanwhile, observers have pointed at apparent discrepancies in the recent census data as an indication that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may find itself hard-pressed to cover up a severe demographic crisis. China’s Seventh National Population Census, released belatedly in mid-May by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), showed that the Chinese population experienced modest growth last year, with a net increase of around 10 million people. According to the data, the country added 72 million people since 2010. NBS Director Ning Jizhe claimed China recorded 12 million births and a fertility rate of 1.3.
An elderly man and woman are pushed in wheelchairs along a street in Beijing on May 11, 2021. (Image: WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)
Delayed censu the decade, while the 15-59 bracket, which is the meat of the population at approximately 895 million people, declined by 6.79 percent. The 60+ and 65+ brackets, the former of which composes close to 265 million people, increased by 5.44 and 4.63 percent respectively. According to China political risk consultancy SinoInsider, a February report issued by a CCP organ that relied on data from China’s “hukou” household registration system showed the lowest level of newborns registered in 2020 since the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949 at 10.035 million. The number fell from 11.79 million in 2019. The April Financial Times article quoted the Bank of China itself as saying “It is almost a fact that China has overestimated its birth rate. The challenges brought about by China’s demographic shift could be bigger [than expected].”
‘Great glorious, correct’ SinoInsider explains why population data is so critical to the psychology of Communist Party leaders and cadres both domestically and diplomatically, “The CCP needs to constantly project itself and its brutal authoritarian model as ‘great, glorious, correct’ (偉光正) to survive and dominate.” “Externally, staying ‘great, glorious, correct’ at all times allows the Party to tout its so-called ‘China Model’ as a ‘superior’ system that other countries should follow. Domestically, being ‘great, glorious, correct’ helps the Party iron out its political legitimacy issues to a degree.” The analysts posit the most likely reason for the delay in the release of census data was “the very real possibility that China’s population actually shrunk by a troubling amount over the past decade and especially in 2020.” “And if the census showed that China’s population fell below 1.4 billion as reported by the Financial Times, then the CCP needs to ‘airbrush’ the final figures so that the regime can still come across as ‘great, glorious, correct’.” A withering population and demographics is more than just an issue of saving face for the communist regime. Indeed, the data represents a seri-
ous blow to the Party’s ambition to export its autocratic ways to the rest of the world. Moreover, SinoInsider points out population decline statistics in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic — the epicenter of which was in Wuhan city — “hints at overwhelming deaths and extensive cover-up (fraudulent official data) on the CCP’s part. This disintegrates the CCP’s narrative of having ‘controlled’ COVID-19, exposes the regime as being woefully corrupt and incompetent, and leaves the PRC vulnerable to calls for accountability by the international community.” University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Yi Fuxian said in his 2007 book Big Country With an Empty Nest, “The biggest problem with China’s census data is not numbers being fudged in the original data, but the adjustments in the final data. The original data is lower than expected, and the authorities have to make a sharp turn.”
Suspicious COVID statistics While Beijing would like the world to believe its official COVID-19 death count of approximately 4,500 citizens, almost all in Wuhan’s Hubei Province, the numbers don’t add up compared to the United States at onefifth the population but more than 590,000 COVID-19-associated deaths, or the world’s secondlarg-
As a supporting piece of data, “hukou” registrations in Hubei Province dropped by more than 4.5 million people in 2020 to their lowest level since 2000.
212-730-6962
est population, India’s, 329,000 deaths. One of the most concerning datasets that may shed light on how real the pandemic in mainland China was is that of monthly new cellphone users reported by China’s big three telecoms. The mainland is a society where citizens live or die by their mobile phones in order to pay for goods and services in a cashless society and show credentials at different CCP checkpoints. The statistics show a net 3.9 million phones went offline in November of 2019, 2.9 million in December, 1.6 million in January of 2020, and a staggering 19.4 million in February. SinoInsider says that the only two reasons for cancellations in the Hukou system “are the result of domestic and international migration, or death.” Migration is not very likely because of both lockdowns and government controls and social prejudice and discrimination against Hubei and Wuhan migrants as people feared the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
VISION TIMES
The CCP installed its notorious onechild policy with strict enforcement starting in the 1970s. China boasted a combined fertility rate of 6.71 in the 1950s and had toppled it to 1.70 by 2019. Over the same period of time, China’s competitors such as the United States and Britain posted fertility rate declines of 1.28 and 0.33, respectively. With propaganda campaigns from the regime’s one-voice media apparatus featuring slogans like “have less children, have a better life,” the poison has cut deep. Figures from the Ministry of Health featuring data from 1971 to 2013 showed an astonishing 336 million abortions and 196 million sterilizations had been conducted in the country. Facing a crisis of its own creation, the CCP relaxed its internationally-condemned one-child Policy into a twochild policy in 2016. Yet what has been holding Chinese families from having more children back appears to be less of a matter of whether or not the CCP installs a threechild policy and more of a result of economic and social realities created over decades of communist rule.. A May 11 article by Wall Street Journal summarized the issue, “The onechild policy helped create a mind-set of focusing all of a couple’s resources on one child and many families feel they simply can’t afford a second one.” ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
The Seventh Census began in November of 2020 and on Dec. 30, the NBS announced it had completed data collection. In March of this year, Beijing said it would announce the results in early April. An article by Financial Times citing insiders said the CCP was poised to announce its first population decline. And in fact, several cities disclosed their population figures early, with at least 26 showing a negative growth rate. Official statistics reveal China is suffering from both a shrinking workforce and an aging population. The 0-14 age bracket grew by only 1.35 percent over the course of
Reaping the consequences of population control
Zhou Zhengxiang sits in the surgeon’s seat as he explains the medical features of his mobile abortion, sterilization and birthing van created by his company, the China Triple-U High Technology Industrial Group, outside the General Population Conference in Beijing. Due to the one-child policy, 336 million abortions were recorded between 1971 and 2013.
WSJ cites an example of a 33-year-old former government employee with the surname Li who was terminated after having a third child. The local labor protection board sided with her employer because she had violated family planning policies. Li’s expression of frustration on Chinese social media platform Weibo, “in our country, giving birth can be a sin,” summarizes the long-festering bitterness towards child rearing caused by the Communist Party’s centralized oversight of the family unit. Beijing-based researcherJiang Xueqin told Canada’s The Globe and Mail, “Demographic trends spell the end of the Chinese Dream.” “Young people, especially young women, do not want to have children. From a macroeconomic perspective, it is too costly and punitive.” The article says that not only are women given a mere 14 weeks of maternity leave, with fathers usually at best two, but the average cost of raising a child in Shanghai is $160,000 before real estate. A marketing specialist in Beijing, Bao Hui, told The Globe “raising just this one child is burning us out, me and my husband…the resources we have are barely enough for just one.” “If I won the lottery, I would have more right away. But at the moment, our economic situation has made me give up. Because in this situation, bringing children into the world is irresponsible and unwise.”
subscription@visiontimes.com
CHINA
www.VisionTimes.com
JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021 |
A5
China Sees COVID-19 Surge in Guangdong Province
Orders Mass Testing Travel Restrictions Cancels Flights By Todd Crawford Vision Times
T
This photo taken on May 30, 2021 shows a man (R) receiving a nucleic acid test for the Covid19 coronavirus in Guangzhou in China's southern Guangdong province. (Image: STR/ AFP via Getty Images)
he Chinese authorities on Sunday May 31 implemented mass nucleic acid testing and an array of travel and community restrictions following a surge of COVID-19 infections that have hit the southern city of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, according to Reuters. This most recent outbreak is suspected of beginning on May 21 when the surge in cases was first detected in Guangzhou. Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province and home to approximately 15 million people, ordered the mass testing and lockdowns after 27 new cases of COVID19 were detected. Testing is also underway in the nearby cities of Foshan and Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong. Authorities have claimed that seven of the cases were imported while the remaining 20 are suspected of originating within China. Nineteen asymptomatic cases were also detected; however, China does not count these
The prefecturelevel city of Liwan located within Guangzhou, with a population of approximately 540,000, was issued the stay-athome order for five streets. infections as confirmed cases despite asymptomatic carriers still being able to spread the virus. As of 10 p.m. on Monday, any travelers leaving Guangdong, whether by plane, train, bus or private vehicle must present the results of a nucleic acid test that was conducted within 72-hours of one’s travel date. Checkpoints have been established to test truck drivers, and other traffic, moving across the borders. However, some have reported being unable to leave or enter the area,
reported the South China Morning Post. Over 500 flights were cancelled at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport representing approximately a third of all flights in and out of the region on Monday. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has been the world’s busiest travel hub during the pandemic having served over 43 million travellers last year. Most restrictions on domestic travel had been removed last March when the ruling Communist Party declared the virus under control. Travelers arriving from abroad were still required to be tested in an effort to limit the spread of the virus on the mainland. One Guangzhou neighborhood was issued a stay-athome order while authorities conducted door-to-door testing for the virus. In some cases outdoor markets, child care facilities, indoor dining and in-person grade school classes were suspended. All entertainment venues were closed. The prefecture-level city of Liwan located within Guangzhou, with a population of approximately 540,000, was issued the stay-at-home order for five streets. Authorities
have banned all non essential activities for the community. A fast-spreading coronavirus variant, which was first detected in India, is suspected of driving infections in the area. Residents of the area must rely on the government for deliveries of groceries and other essential items.
Official numbers questioned
The reported numbers out of the region have been low throughout the pandemic leading some to question the official reporting. The batch of cases in Guangdong is the latest in a series of sporadic outbreaks reported throughout the country. However, on-theground witnesses speaking with overseas media often contradict the low numbers. According to official tallies, as of May 30, a total of 91,099 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in China with a death toll of 4,636, a total that has remained unchanged for some time. In an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, near the beginning of the pandemic, columnist Konrad Yakabuski asked the question, “the Chinese government’s first instinct has
always been to hide the facts, especially if they reveal its own failures, so why would anyone believe the data coming out of China now on COVID-19?” He continued, “there is little doubt that the lockdowns imposed in late January [2020] in Wuhan and Hubei province helped stem the spread of the coronavirus. But official data on the overall number of COVID19 cases and deaths in China must be interpreted with a healthy dose of skepticism.” Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) tweeted at the time, “We have no idea how many cases China really has, but without any doubt, it’s significantly more than [what] they admit to.”, in defense of media reports that the U.S. had more coronavirus cases than China. There are also reports of unconfirmed chronic patients with lingering mild to severe COVID-19 symptoms that authorities have omitted from official tallies. While testing negative for the virus numerous individuals are experiencing lingering symptoms consistent with COVID-19. This phenomenon has been reported widely across the globe.
COVID-19 Vaccine rollout has sped up
share subscriber
subscription@visiontimes.com
Pamela Fraustro Mirada hacia China
VISION TIMES NEWS
"Bringing you Truth, Inspiration, Hope"
Subscribed
paypal.me/ givevisiontimes
VISION TIMES
212-730-6962
TO
A6 | JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021
By Leo Timm Vision Times
M
‘Killing 200,000 in exchange for 20 years of stability’
In
the West, the photo of the lone “Tank Man” standing down a column of advancing PLA tanks on the streets is a well-recognized symbol of resistance. But for most Chinese today, living 30 years after the bloodshed that occured in the center of their nation’s capital, the legacy of Tiananmen is a phantom episode of history, torn between activist voices, regime propaganda, and fading memories. 212-730-6962
were simply filled by volunteers. Locals brought supplies to those demonstrating in the square; despite the size of the crowd, the supplies were dis-
Until recently, with the banning of activities to mourn the victims of Tiananmen in Hong Kong, people in the former British colony would dutifully organize memorial gatherings every year. In mainland China, the events of June 4, 1989 are subject to an Orwellian exercise of reality control and historical revisionism on the mainland. Apart from censoring all available information regarding the protests, CCP-paid internet trolls, known as wumao, further muddle the waters by offering false or misleading accounts of the protests. And what cannot be denied is simply brushed off as irrelevant in the great flow of China’s supposed rise. In the years after the
tributed fairly and without bickering.
CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP/Getty Images
ore than three decades ago, there was a brief moment when the Chinese people found the opportunity to govern themselves — and nearly succeeded. For about three weeks in May 1989, millions of people across Beijing, following the example of students and teachers from schools around the capital, stood out to oppose the widespread corruption of Communist Party officials and to back growing calls for political reform. From May 13 to the end of the month, as the Party leadership took in the situation and formulated their reaction, residents of Beijing enjoyed an open atmosphere, one that remained orderly and peaceful
despite the effective disappearance of state administration. The protesters converged on Tiananmen Square, the plaza that sits before the ancient Forbidden City palace complex and to the east of Zhongnanhai, headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Traffic police left their posts, with many joining in the events, eyewitness Chen Gang, then a college student, remembered. Yet their places
“It was an emotional moment: I had never expected that the Hu Yaobang communist sloGettyImages gan of ‘Assign the abundant material goods to the people according to their need’ would be first realized there at Tiananmen Square— freed of the Party organization,” Chen recounted in a documentary piece published by The Epoch Times in 2016. The massive demonstrations would eventually end in the Tiananmen Massacre of June 4, followed up by a merciless wave of repression against those deemed to have played a role in the movement. The “June Fourth incident” remains one of the most heavily censored topics in China, and is seen by many as representing a fateful watershed in the country’s history — when the Party determined to follow the path of Marxist-Leninist authoritarianism, no matter the cost. However, at the time, there
Tiananmen Massacre, Deng Xiaoping resumed his reforms, though the political content was now a third rail: in an infamous speech, Deng claimed that it was worth it to “kill 200,000 people in exchange for 20 years of stability.” To be sure, this was an exaggerated figure, based on the Chinese convention of counting large numbers by the tens of thousands. But the point was clear: making money was okay, as long as it didn’t interfere with the rule of the Communist Party. Deng’s logic has been acted out at a dramatic scale and with mind-boggling intensity. Starting in the 1990s, under the leadership of CCP leader Jiang Zemin, Party officials were officially permitted to get
was still much reason for the Chinese — from ordinary citizens to reformers in the leadership — to harbor hope.
The spirit of reform In the late 1980s, China was a very different place from how it would develop in the decades to come. CCP leader Deng Xiaoping had instituted the “reform and opening up” policy, turning the country away from strict planned economics. As part of this push, Deng allowed liberalminded officials to rise to the highest ranks of the Communist Party. Hu Yaobang assumed the post of Party Chairman, Zhao Ziyang Rob Bogaerts / Anefo/ then General SecWIKI/CC BY-SA 3.0 NL retary. Together with Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, the two men were praised by Deng as his “left and right hands” in the effort to modernize and liberalize China. Under Deng — who remained de facto in charge despite not formally assuming leadership — Hu, and Zhao, China saw the dawn of its explosive economic growth. Ordinary Chinese could now start up businesses, a privi-
involved with business, marrying the authoritarianism of the Communist Party to full-on commercialism. Jiang called upon cadres to “keep quiet and make huge fortunes,” something they did at any cost. Under the blanket of China’s economic rise —
from having a GDP comparable in size to that of Tokyo in the 1990s to being the second in place behind the United States — the CCP only reinforced its totalitarian means. Jiang Zemin’s
VISION
PIC
JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021 |
A7
Adobe Stock
In 1989, Communist China massacred thousands of its own people. The effects of that massacre last to this day
GettyImages
persecution of the popular Falun Gong spiritual practice opened up the door to repressions of other politically undesirable groups, and the influx of money gave Beijing access to a wide range of upgrades for its modern authoritarian state. The list goes from Western-sourced computer chips used in
TIMES
A historical tragedy 64memo.com
lege once reserved for state companies. Contacts with the outside world increased as students and entrepreneurs went abroad. A boom in popular culture and intellectual expression materialized. In a country where communist ideology was written into the constitution and provided the mandate for the CCP’s violent authoritarian rule, economic and social reforms inevitably stirred controversy. However, even the Party leaders were unafraid to push boundaries. Zhao Ziyang drafted serious plans to separate Chinese government administration from the authority of the CCP, something unthinkable today. Hu Yaobang, for his part, when queried on which aspects of founding communist leader Mao Zedong’s theory were desirable for modern China, he replied that there were none. And on the ground, the relaxed environment was leading to dissent even before the events of 1989. From the “Democracy Wall” and various attempts to institute local elections in the late 1970s and early 1980s, this dissent grew and led to greater protests for Western-style
reforms. While the Tiananmen Square protests are often remembered for their advocacy of democracy and political modernization, for many ordinary participants, their demands were simpler: reduce the widespread corruption of the Party officialdom, and hold them accountable to the public. Such demands, whether for greater political representation or practical fairness, alarmed the Communist Party, especially those who already had reservations about straying from the classical Marxist path. In 1987, believing that Hu had gone too far, Deng Xiaoping and other officials forced the general secretary’s resignation, replacing him with Zhao Ziyang. Though Zhao was the architect of Deng’s economic restructuring and an advocate of reform, for millions, the removal of Hu Yaobang was an ominous and unwelcome signal.
To many, Hu had personified the hope that China could shift from authoritarianism to democracy. Two years after his forced
the Huawei-built mass surveillance systems, to immunosuppressant drugs for transplants of organs harvested from prisoners of conscience. The consequences of Tiananmen and the bloody end of political reform are apparent. Like advanced western democracies, China has become an increasingly materialis-
retirement, Hu’s death on April 15, 1989 sparked an outpouring of national grief. However, what began as a commemoration for the deceased reformer soon escalated into fresh demands for democratic change. Outside Beijing, protests cropped up in dozens of Chinese cities in a movement encompassing tens of millions. The 1989 proJiang Zemin Web Image tests occurred in the backdrop of similar popular movements that were in the process of bringing down the Sovietbacked communist regimes in Eastern Europe. But unlike in places like Poland and East Germany, where millions marched to bring down communism outright, many of the Chinese protesters were convinced of the CCP’s ability to change for the better. Given Zhao Ziyang’s position, he could have, and did, take steps to help the democracy movement. Unfortunately, he was absent for critical executive meetings that shaped theParty’s reaction; in one case, he was on a state visit to North Korea. Further, hardliners in the CCP saw in the unrest an opening, with Beijing mayor Chen Xitong and Premier Li Peng conspiring to paint the protests in the most alarming manner before Deng. Already on April 26, after siding with these hardliner opinions, Deng Xiaoping had publicly labelled the protests a “riot.” The charge clashed with the experience of the college student Chen
tic society, with endlessly rising levels of consumption and veneration of socioeconomic status. The Communist Party no longer claims to represent the people on account of Marxist merit, but in accordance with how rich it can make them. Today, the Chinese model of development is hitting the wall. In December, establishment econ-
omist Song Xiangzuo warned that China’s actual GDP growth could be at or near zero, rather than the 6 percent claimed in official figures. Tariffs on Chinese exports imposed by the Trump administration have highlighted the inherent weaknesses of the Chinese economy,
Gang, that the atmosphere among the protesters was peaceful to the point that “even thieves renounced stealing.” In particular, a desire to prove that the democracy movement was not violent or anti-CCP was partially responsible for the scenes of order that Chen Gang saw at the time: “The capital was simply out of the Communist Party’s domain,” he recalled. “Not wanting to give the authorities any excuse to suppress the demonstrations, the students cooperated to institute a meticulous regime of social law and order, starting with directing traffic.” On and following May 20, when Deng Xiaoping declared martial law and sent troops to clear the protesters, the masses put up nonviolent resistance to the People’s Liberation Army columns entering the city. The standstill persisted and worsened over the next two weeks. Finally, hardened formations were sent in, wiping out the thousands of protesters who remained at Tiananmen Square in the night between June 3 and June 4. In the final days before the imposition of martial law, Zhao Ziyang, his power waning, made a visit to the students at the square: “We came too late. We are sorry. You talk about us, criticize us. It is all necessary.” In the wake of the massacre, Zhao was removed from his post and placed under house arrest. His successor, Jiang Zemin, had been CCP secretary of Shanghai. He had been chosen for the position because of his proactive stance in shutting down a liberal publication in Shanghai when it refused to self-censor its pro-demonstration coverage.
from lack of enforceable laws to suppressed innovation and heavy-handed interventionist policies designed to cement the Communist Party’s power. 212-730-6962
WORLD
A8 | JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021
www.VisionTimes.com
The USS Ronald Reagan at sea. The Regan will withdraw from the Asia-Pac region to help with the Afghan troop withdrawal mission promised by the Biden administration. (Image: Official U.S. Navy Page via Flickr CC BY 2.0)
US Navy Withdraws Only Carrier
in Asia-Pacific to Help With Afghan Troop Withdrawal By Debbie Cho Vision Times
T
he Navy has deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan from its home port in Japan, to help with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan this summer. The move will leave
the Asia Pacific region without a U.S. carrier presence patrolling the seas. Another aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, normally deployed in the Middle East region, will be heading back to its home port in Norfolk, Virginia at a time when its deployment at sea will be at its limits. This has spurred the Navy to replace its normal presence in the Middle East region with the USS Ronald Reagan. The lack of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the West-
ern Pacific region signals a strain on naval resources in an area that has seen rising tensions between China and its neighbors. Last summer, while the pandemic was underway, China had several military clashes with surrounding countries. The confrontations included a border clash with India, military aircraft flights within Taiwanese airspace, and submarine activity near Japan on top of the ongoing disputes within the South China Sea’s territory. U.S. military activity in the South China Sea was
recorded at its highest in years during 2020 and 2019 after it was confirmed the passage of ten U.S. warships in the region compared to five in each of the two prior years. China is the dominant presence in the South China Sea compared to its neighbors, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan, who look to the U.S. as an ally for support. During the time of these conflicts, China announced it would be increasing its military budget by 6.6 percent, even as the economy had slowed
due to the global pandemic. Although the projected military budget of China, including its recent increase, is only a quarter of the U.S. budget, it is believed they have more warships than the U.S. (335 versus 285) in addition to their two aircraft carriers. While the Asia Pacific region will be without a U.S. aircraft carrier after the exit of the USS Ronald Reagan this summer, Britain will be sending the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier to the area with hundreds of U.S. Marines and 10 F-35 fighter jets in tow.
‘Deeply Concerned’ Canadian Province Orders Top Universities to Suspend Projects With China By Jacqueline Chung Vision Times
T
he Alberta government ordered four of its major universities to suspend partnerships with individuals or organizations with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), citing threats to Canadian national security and the possibility that related research could be used to promote human rights abuses by the communist regime. One of the Province’s top institutions, the University of Alberta (UofA), was found to have a long and deep relationship with China, with several staff and researchers having formed joint ventures with funding from Chinese staterun enterprises to commercialize Canadian research in China, according to a report in The Globe and Mail. The universities named in the government’s order are the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, and Athabasca University. The 212-730-6962
institutions have 90 days to review their cooperation with China and submit a report to the Province detailing all agreements, research relationships, institutional relationships, and joint ventures with entities that have ties to the CCP. “I am deeply concerned about the potential theft of Canadian intellectual property and further concerned that research partnerships with the People’s Republic of China may be used by Chinese military and intelligence agencies,” reads a statement from Alberta’s Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides. “My priority is to work with our post-secondary institutions to protect Canadian intellectual property and to ensure that Alberta institutions do not enter into agreements with entities that would undermine our country’s core national interests.” Nicolaides in his statement also stressed the province would welcome a “comprehensive national framework from Ottawa on these seri-
ous pressing issues.” “International partnerships, which include research projects, teaching and mobility agreements, and international learning opportunities are what allow the academy to provide students, postdocs, and faculty with the experiences needed to ensure that knowledge flows around the globe.” The UofA and the UofC responded to The Globe on May 23 that they were working on an email from the chancellor and would not comment immediately. The other two universities have not responded to requests for comment. In March, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada issued a policy statement warning the Canadian research community of the need for greater protection of research results, particularly in the field of COVID-19. “Canada’s world-class research, and its open and collaborative research environment, are increasingly targeted by espionage and
University of Alberta was found to have deep and long ties with Communist China and formed ventures with Chinese state-funded ventures. (Image: Jeffrey Beall via Flickr CC BY SA 2.0)
foreign interference,” the statement said without naming a particular country conducting the interference. Charles Burton, a senior fellow with the MacdonaldLaurier Institute, told CTV news that “The Alberta taxpayer has a right to know what grants these public institutions may have been received and what conditions may have been attached.” Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a former senior official at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, said UofA has been a
VISION TIMES
leader among Canadian universities in establishing ties with China. UofA signed an agreement with the CCP’s Ministry of Science and Technology in 2005 to gain access to at least 50 national laboratories in China. Beijing has given research funding and grants to at least 60 UofA professors who are involved in at least 90 national-level research projects in China. In 2019, University of Alberta signed a Memorandum of Understanding to partner with Hong Kong-
based HKAI Labs, a private company researching artificial intelligence. HKAI is funded by Alibaba and SenseTime, a Beijing-based artificial intelligence company that has been blacklisted by the U.S. government for its surveillance role in the crackdown on Uyghurs and minorities in Xinjiang. In Shandong, China, there is a Canadian Centre for BioInnovation (CCBI) which has an affiliation with the UofA. The organization’s website clearly states that it was established “to attract Canadian talent for transnational technology transfer.” The UofA’s Associate Vice President of Innovation and Commercialization, Deborah James, who is among the standing committee of CCBI is also the honorary president of the Yantai YETDA International Incubator for Biomedical Innovation Centre, a Chinese state-funded venture and CCBI’s parent organization. On May 28, two more Ontario universities, York and Queen’s, were accused of collaborating with another U.S. government’s blacklisted Chinese artificialintelligence company, iFlyTek, whose research was used against and to violate the human rights of ethnic minorities in China. subscription@visiontimes.com
MYSTERIES
www.VisionTimes.com
JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021 |
A9
Adobe Stock
Obama Opens up About UFOs; Former Navy Lt. and Ret. Master-at-Arms Come Forward Former U.S. President Barack Obama opened up about his knowledge concerning UFOs on a Monday night segment of the Late Late Show with James Corden, adding fuel to an already packed news cycle concerning the phenomena. Advanced Aerial Threats
By Todd Crawford
A
spate of reports concerning unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has raised questions about who, or what, is responsible and whether they should be regarded as a threat.
The U.S. government is poised to release a much anticipated report concerning ‘Advanced Aerial Threats’ in June of this year revealing much of what they know, to the public and Congress, about unidentified flying objects or unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) as the government refers to them.
During the short segment, Obama was asked if he had a theory on what the unidentified objects could be. He said, “There’s footage and records of objects in the skies that we don’t know exactly what they are. We can’t explain how they move, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern and so I think that people still take [it] seriously, trying to investigate and figure out what that is.”
On December 27, 2020, then-President Donald Trump signed a more than 5,500 page, 2.3 trillion dollar COVID-19 funding bill that included the “Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2021.” The act directed a newly formed “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force” to disclose to congress everything the government knows about UFOs.
The comments by the former president come amid a flurry of reporting questioning the providence of numerous objects, behaving in bizarre manners, that are being observed in the skies by U.S. armed forces, particularly the U.S. Navy. In a now infamous segment on 60-Minutes, that aired on Sunday, a day before Obama’s comments, former Navy Lt. Ryan Graves stated that his battle group had observed UFOs “…every day. Every day for at least a couple years.”
SCREENSHOT
“The Committee supports the efforts of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence to standardize collection and reporting on unidentified aerial phenomenon, any links they have to adversarial foreign governments, and the threat they pose to U.S. military assets and installations,” the Act reads.
C
ommenting on whether what is being observed was technology developed by China, Russia or another U.S. adversary Graves stated, “I am worried, frankly. You know, if these were tactical jets from another country that were hanging out up there, it would be a massive issue.” He continued, “But because it looks slightly different, we’re not willing to actually look at the problem in the face. We’re happy to just ignore the fact that these are out there, watching us every day.” Christopher Mellon, a Yale graduate and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations in a recent interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo stated, “We have recurring violations of U.S. air space by unidentified vehicles that are very capable, in some cases more capable, than anything in our own inventory. This has been going on for years. The truth is just emerging. We’ve had a massive intelligence failure and we now have a threat, an unknown threat to figure out.” Sean Cahill a retired U.S. Navy Master-atArms joined Mellon on the segment and when asked about the potential threat and our ability to counter it said, “In 2004 I was the Chief Master-at- Arms on board the US Princeton and the technology that we witnessed with the Tic Tac was something that we would not have been able to defend our forces against at the time.” A video of the encounter, which was widely released, has been deemed authentic by the Pentagon.
subscription@visiontimes.com
It continues, “The Committee understands that the relevant intelligence may be sensitive; nevertheless, the Committee finds that the information sharing and coordination across the Intelligence Community has been inconsistent, and this issue has lacked attention from senior leaders.” The report is to include “a detailed analysis of UAP data and intelligence reporting collected or held by the Office of Naval Intelligence, including data and intelligence reporting held by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.”
The “Tic Tac” is the name given to a similar object encountered off the coast of San Diego in 2004 by two Navy pilots stationed aboard the USS Nimitz, Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich and Lt. Cmdr. David Fravor. The object observed was shaped like the famous mint, only it was about the size of a “747.”
VISION TIMES
While the report is expected to be released to Congress by the end of June it has been widely speculated that only an interim report will be released as the task force was only allotted 180 days to produce the report.
212-730-6962
5
WISDOM
A10 | JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021
www.VisionTimes.com
Ways You Can Promote a Culture of
INNOVATION at Your Workplace
By Raven Montmorency
I
nnovation culture basically refers to a workplace environment in which employees feel confident in developing and implementing new ideas and processes. For a company, a strong culture of innovation is essential to staying relevant in the market, gaining an edge over the competition, and even attaining market dominance. Here are five ways to promote a culture of innovation.
1
Disrupt hierarchies
Just because your organization has a hierarchy does not mean that people in higher positions are going to be more creative and innovative than those in lower positions. There can be junior employees who have excellent ideas. However, the chain of command might prevent them from actually expressing it to you or someone higher up who matters.
As such, it would be a good idea to share innovative ideas without the burden of hierarchy. Allow employees to talk with the company’s creative head without having to go through three or four managers who might even try to block the person out of jealousy or hatred. When employees realize that they are free to communicate with higher creative authority without any discrimination, they will feel respected and will come up with even better ideas.
5 2
Innovative ideas can require that you change your existing or imminent decisions regarding your business. If you have developed a plan and blindly remain committed to the plan, without being willing to change it even though a new idea presented is extremely promising, you will basically be giving employees the idea that the organization is inflexible and not willing to adapt. You should always make sure that business plans are flexible enough to absorb new ideas and processes. When employees see that their suggestions are being adopted and implemented quickly, they will be inspired. Slowly, a culture of innovation will naturally build up in your workplace.
Brainstorm
Sometimes, people might have brilliant thought processes that could lead to innovative ideas. However, due to the lack of exploring any issue in a deep manner, their abilities remain hidden. Brainstorming is an excellent way to stimulate such people’s thoughts and promote innovation. When a group of people brainstorms to find a solution for a specific problem, their minds are going to be racing with new ideas. Conduct such brainstorming sessions regularly one or twice a month and you will surely see a strong innovation culture take root in your organization.
4 3
Flexible decisions
Being okay with failure
Let the employees know that it is okay to fail. The fear of failure can be so immense that it can end up damaging people’s plans. The pressure to succeed can force people not to implement some tactics that might have worked but come with a high risk of failure. However, it is these very high-risk plans that often tend to bring about the biggest benefits. Just be sure to oversee your employees’ activities so that their failures are kept within expectations.
Freedom to innovate
First, you need to make the employees know that they are free to try out new things. You should act as a supporter of their ideas and give them the necessary freedom to try out those ideas. Do not obsess over deadlines and budgets initially or you will end up killing off their ideas. However, do give the employees a general framework of what they can and cannot do while making them accountable to the goals of your company.
AdobeStock
212-730-6962
VISION TIMES
subscription@visiontimes.com
HEALTH
www.VisionTimes.com
JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021 |
A11
Diet Doldrums?
Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Adobe Stock
Wild Edibles By Ila Bonczek
W
hether cooking for themselves or being cooked for, human beings tend to fall into habitual eating schemes, which, while convenient and familiar, may not be tremendously satisfying or even nutritious. If variety is the spice of life, monotony is the douser of dreams. Let us take a look at some exciting and adventurous ways to add pizzazz to your diet with wild edibles. Anyone with a little patch of earth, or access to a forest or park, ought to be able to find a variety of gourmet treats free for the taking. This time of year is ideal for finding tender new shoots to boost your vegetable intake and expand the palate. The most common wild edibles come in the form of greens. Common “weeds” like garlic mustard, chickweed, and dandylion are all available in abundance for spring foraging.
Wild edibles: one man’s weed is another man’s feast Garlic mustard
While there are folks who pride themselves on tromping through the forest and gnawing on all manner of vegetation like veritable beasts, we will take a more civilized approach here. To start, let’s consider a pesto. Now, your traditional pesto has basil, garlic, romano or parmesan cheese, olive oil, and pine nuts. You can switch things up a bit by using young garlic mustard. This pungent wild edible is highly nutritious, boasting vitamins A, C, E, and some of the B vitamins. It also provides various minerals, including potassium, magnesium, iron and omega 3 fatty acids. Native to Europe, garlic mustard is invasive in North America, and thus can and should be harvested with abandon. Take the whole plant before or just as the flower buds start to form. Use only the tender stems, leaves and young flower buds. As the name is highly indicative of the flavor, garlic is not necessary in this pesto, and the delicate flavor of pine nuts would largely be wasted with this overpowering herb. Instead, a generous amount of walnuts or almonds will lend a sweet, mellowing effect. If the flavor is still too strong, the addition of a milder herb, like chickweed or parsley, will take the edge off. Cheese can be readily swapped with nutritional yeast for a vegan version, but olive oil remains the bond that brings it all together. This flexible recipe is adaptable to the addition of lemon juice, olives, or other seasonings. Pulse in a food processor until smooth and use it in a traditional format, or enjoy it on seed crackers, with zucchini pasta, or fried polenta.
Dandelion
Next, the tenacious dandylion. Lawn-lovers often look upon this plant as a pest, while in fact it is a very good thing to eat, and also has value as an early forage flower for our endangered pollinators – the honeybee. While herbicides cause serious harm to the bees, manually removing the plants is not a threat to these winged foragers, as, for one thing, you will be hard pressed to keep them back. Besides that, dandelions are just one of many early flowering plants. While nutritionally similar to garlic mustard, dandelion greens are especially good for maintaining vision, offering retinoid activity equivalents (RAE) and two special forms of vitamin A. Lutein and zeaxanthin accumulate in the retina and help prevent macular degeneration. Traditional in Italian cuisine, this exceptionally bitter herb is often parboiled (cooked briefly and then rinsed in cold water) before adding to recipes. Sautéed with onions or garlic and served with toasted pine nuts and pasta, or in the form of a spicy, creamy soup, dandelion is rich and flavorful, supremely satisfying. Additional uses for this herb include dandelion wine made of the flowers, and an herbal, coffee-like tea made by steeping its roasted chopped roots.
Chickweed
Chickweed, on the other hand, is a mild flavored and delicate herb that can be found as a clumpy mass growing in the sun. As an annual plant, it finishes its lifecycle when it goes to flower in the heat, but can be found in both spring and fall. Nutritionally, chickweed is a good source of vitamins and antioxidants, and has a wide range of medicinal uses. This herb is tender and tasty enough to be eaten raw in salads, but also adds another dimension to dishes like pilaf. Chopped and wilted in cooked wild rice and quinoa with toasted sunflower seeds, sauteed onions, grated carrots and a dash of soy sauce, it makes a simple meal or a hearty side.
watercress
Another leafy green to look out for in early spring is watercress, which can often be found in running streams. Also high in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, this peppery plant can provide important health benefits. Quick to bolt in the heat, it will turn from mildly peppery to very spicy when flowers start to form. While this popular herb is now cultivated worldwide, it was first considered a weed and can still be found in the wild. Be sure to only harvest the plant above the water, so the roots can continue to grow. As with all wild harvests, wash thoroughly before consuming. Picked early, watercress is mild enough to be eaten raw in sandwiches or salads, but is also used in Asian stir fry recipes.
If you are prone to over indulgence, take heed – harvesting wild edibles is a potentially addictive activity. Enjoying the outdoors while keeping a keen eye out for gourmet treasures is a pleasure that surpasses even a visit to Trader Joes. Be prepared to wow your friends and family with many new dishes, along with the exciting details of discovery.
E R O S M W E O N EN L G GOO
Go To DISCOVER THE TRUTH FOR YOURSELF ! www.RightonTimes.com
subscription@visiontimes.com
VISION TIMES
212-730-6962
PET
A12 | JUN 4 - JUN 10, 2021
www.VisionTimes.com AdobeStock
5
Resuscitation
If your dog isn’t breathing, begin resuscitation immediately and get someone to phone the vet. Check that nothing is obstructing the air passages, remove and check that the tongue isn’t curled back. Put your hands around the dog’s mouth to keep it closed and blow into its nose. Wait for one second and blow again. Don’t give up even if it takes an hour.
1
Eye injuries
If the eye is protruding, apply a cold compress. Or, drop olive oil into the eye socket. Place a clean bandage over the eye and press it gently back into the socket. If the eye is hanging out of the socket, soak the bandage in olive oil and wrap around the eye and tie lightly. Go to the vet. For chemicals, flush with water repeatedly. You can use an eye drop bottle filled with water to flush it out. For snake spit in the eyes, water works best.
Feel for a heartbeat. The heart is situated 2 to 3 inches above the dog’s elbow under the left side of the chest. Put the dog on its right side. Pull its tongue out, and check for obstructions. Press your palms with the thumbs next to each other on the ribs. Push down firmly and release quickly once every 5 seconds. Keep persevering until you get a result.
Take note that a dog in shock or pain might bite. So be cautious and if necessary bind its mouth with a tie or scarf or use a muzzle before attempting any treatment. Remember to always keep the phone number of your vet close at hand.
A Pet Owner’s Guide
First Aid for Dogs 2
Poisoning
Poisons work quickly. Stomach spasms, vomiting, or a slow heartbeat are usual symptoms. (A normal heart rate for small dogs is around 160 bpm and for larger dogs, it’s 70 bpm.) Shortness of breath, paralysis, and small pupils are other symptoms. Dogs may accidentally ingest rat poison from contaminated water. If you suspect poisoning from weedkiller, find the packaging for the product and have it with you when you phone the vet. In the case of animals having chewed toxic weeds, identify the plant. If the dog hasn’t vomited and is still conscious, administer water every 10-20 minutes or a mixture of cool, strong tea. A good form of protein is liver. Administer a spoonful intermittently. Never give any water or food if the animal is vomiting or unconscious. Go to the vet.
D
og lovers all feel that their pets are a big source of comfort and joy in their lives, so it’s important to care for them properly, especially in their times of need. Ask your vet what you need to make a First Aid Kit and keep it handy, but take care to keep it away from kids. Remember, as well, to stay calm in the case of an emergency. Your dog will respond to your demeanor and keeping them calm is of great importance. By Simone Jonker / Vision Times Staff
3
Illness
Signs of illness in your dog are loss of appetite, upset stomach, and hair that falls out in clumps. Also, eyes that tear, a runny nose, coughing and sneezing, worms and worm eggs in feces, fits, paleness of gums, and fever. Vomiting is not always a sign of sickness. In fact, vomiting is instinctual and comes from their hunting days when regurgitating was the easiest way to bring food back to their pups.
4
Bleeding
Take untreated bandaging materials and place a non-adhesive dressing on the wound. Hydrogen peroxide and triple antibiotic ointment will work fine. Place a layer of cotton wool and cover with cotton bandages. Stick it to the fur with surgical tape. Bind the entire area with adhesive bandage or tape. When bandaging limbs, the paws should be included or they may swell up. If the dog can’t walk, there might be internal injuries. Bleeding can occur from the eyes, nose, ears, vagina, or rectum. Pick the animal up by placing one hand on the front of the chest and the other under the hindquarters or devise a stretcher with a blanket for larger dogs. For dogs that can’t walk, use a hardboard and slide the patient on it gently. Covering with a blanket will help with shock and reduce the loss of body heat. Then, go to the vet.
10 Minutes for
More Insights into China
China Insights
212-730-6962
VISION TIMES
subscription@visiontimes.com