China
June 15, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Sky News Australia has posted the video of Sharri Markson’s 16-minute report on the Wuhan lab that appears to have been the source of the Covid-19 scourge with the following summary appended: The Wuhan Institute of Virology kept live bats in cages, new footage from inside the facility has revealed, disproving denials from World Health Organisation investigators who claimed the suggestion was a “conspiracy”. An official Chinese Academy of Sciences
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June 5, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Senator Tom Cotton and others were excoriated for suggesting that the possibility that the Wuhan virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology should be investigated. Not only have such suggestions been denounced, until last week, Facebook did not even allow the idea that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory to be discussed. Over the last couple of weeks, a consensus has emerged that the lab leak hypothesis is
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June 3, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Some conservative commentators are hailing alleged “bombshells” in the just-released emails of Anthony Fauci. I have seen nothing–yet–in those emails that even remotely merits that characterization. But this does: a very long article in Vanity Fair by investigative reporter Katherine Eban, titled “The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins.” This is how Eban promoted her article on Twitter: BREAKING: my months-long @VanityFair investigation on #COVID19 origins is
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June 1, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Five years ago, China amended its longstanding policy of allowing each married couple to have only one child. At that time, a second child was permitted. But that change didn’t solve the problem of China’s plunging birth rate, so the country’s rulers have now relaxed the policy further, and will allow a third child. China will allow couples to have three children in a historic shift of its birth control
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May 31, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
The Democrats and the mainstream media have a lot of explaining to do when it comes to their dismissal as a “conspiracy theory” of questions as to whether the Wuhan coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab. It was clear all along that the questions were legitimate, and now, finally, the media and the Dems are asking them too. In doing so, they recognize the need to explain their earlier dismissal
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May 29, 2021 — John Hinderaker
The idea that the novel coronavirus may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been around for a while. WIV is located within blocks of the market where the Chinese Communist Party says the bat-borne virus jumped to humans–a remarkable coincidence if there is no connection. Establishment scientists long denounced questions about the Wuhan lab, raised by Senator Tom Cotton and others, as a “conspiracy theory,” which increasingly
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May 27, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
To follow up on Scott’s post below, let’s remember that Facebook censored all talk about the Wuhan coronavirus originating in a Chinese lab. There was always legitimate reason to believe that the virus might have originated there. But only now that the evidence establishes a strong likelihood of this will Facebook finally permit the matter to be discussed on its platform. It’s sickening that Facebook wouldn’t permit discussion of a
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May 26, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post’s fact checker, has written an article called “Timeline: How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible.” The title itself needs to be fact checked against the content of Kessler’s piece. Kessler’s timeline shows that the leak theory was always credible. What’s changed is that the theory now can be deemed very likely true. Our friend Sen. Tom Cotton takes center stage in the introduction to
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May 24, 2021 — Scott Johnson
It will not come as a great shock to Power Line readers to learn, as the Wall Street Journal reports from previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence: “Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin.” Subhead: “Report says researchers went to hospital in November 2019, shortly before confirmed outbreak; adds to calls for probe of whether virus escaped lab.” With a New York Times-style byline listing three reporters,
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May 11, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Leaked documents show that the Walt Disney Company has asked employees to complete a “white privilege checklist” and to “pivot away from “white dominant culture.” The documents, published by Christopher Rufo, state (falsely) that the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans are “part of a long history of systemic racism and transphobia.” The documents also cover such topics as “white privilege,” “white fragility,” “white saviors,”
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April 12, 2021 — Steven Hayward
When we look out on the world scene and how the Biden Administration is positioning itself, everyone should keep in mind the summary statement of former Defense Secretary and CIA director Robert Gates (no one’s idea of a partisan firebrand, as he’s been serving presidents of both parties since the Carter Administration): Joe Biden, Gates said, “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the
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April 1, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Democratic politicians and their press adjunct are promoting the absurd idea that “America is back!” As though we had gone away during the Trump years, when American interests were pursued aggressively, successfully and peacefully–a pretty good combination. What is actually happening now is that we have a senile president surrounded by leftists who have no interest in defending American interests or American allies. Hostile powers are moving to fill the
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March 22, 2021 — John Hinderaker
It is early days, obviously, but nevertheless it is reasonable to expect the Biden administration to return to the passive posture of weakness and international retreat, including, at times, outright anti-Americanism, that characterized the Obama years. With both Russia and, especially, China resurgent, is there anyone else who can stand in their way? Actually, there may be. Foreign Policy has a surprisingly (to me) optimistic assessment of the strategic situation
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March 21, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
The mainstream media is struggling to reconcile its attacks on Donald Trump for speaking harshly about nations like China and Iran with its approval of (or at least non-judgmental posture towards) Joe Biden doing the same thing. To this struggle, we can add the task of defending Biden’s anti-China rhetoric while continuing to blame Trump’s rhetoric for “hate crimes” against Asian-Americans. Two Asian-American professors, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Janelle Wong,
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March 21, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, John wrote about “the fiasco in Anchorage,” in which a Chinese diplomat excoriated the U.S. for 20 minutes, using the American left’s favorite talking points. Secretary of State Blinken had opened the door for the attack by criticizing China in a two minute statement. Blinken knew that China would respond in kind, but figured it would limit itself to two minutes, as the parties had agreed. Apparently, Blinken hasn’t
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March 20, 2021 — John Hinderaker
On Thursday, delegations headed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi met at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage. It was the first such meeting of the Biden administration. There were both public and private sessions. The parties agreed that the public session would begin with a two-minute statement by each. Blinken spoke for two minutes, after which Yang contemptuously ignored the agreed-upon protocol and delivered
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March 18, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that the Chinese government is scrubbing evidence of its clampdown on Uighurs in Xinjiang amid an international debate as to whether China is committing genocide. The article explains: As Western governments assess whether the crackdown on Uyghurs and other minorities in China’s Xinjiang region constitutes genocide, Beijing has slowed the information flow from the area to a trickle, obscuring conditions. The restriction of information — coupled
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