[GERMANY STANDS WITH CHINESE] German Spy Agency doubt US 'China lab' Coronavirus Accusations

[Daniel808]

German spy agency doubts US 'China lab' coronavirus accusations: Report


News Desk | Reuters | Berlin, Germany
Jakarta / Fri, May 8, 2020 / 04:57 pm

This file photo taken on April 17, 2020 shows an aerial view of the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. - The Chinese biosafety laboratory accused by top US officials of being at the origin of the coronavirus pandemic studies the world's most dangerous diseases, with researchers who investigate viruses that live in bats.(AFP/Hector Retamal)

A German intelligence report casts doubts on US allegations that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese laboratory and says the accusations are an attempt to divert attention from US failure to rein in the disease, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Friday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday there was "a significant amount of evidence" that the coronavirus had emerged from a Chinese laboratory, but did not dispute US intelligence agencies' conclusion that it was not man-made.

Spiegel said Germany's BND spy agency had asked members of the US-led "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance for evidence to support the accusation. None of the alliance's members, the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, wanted to support Pompeo's claim, it said.

An intelligence report prepared for German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer concluded that the US accusations were a deliberate attempt to divert public attention away from President Donald Trump's "own failures".

A German government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Trump has said he has evidence the virus could have originated in a Chinese lab, but he has declined to elaborate.

US deaths from the coronavirus exceeded 75,000 on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, with mixed messages from the White House and state governments on how to slow the rate of infection.

Deaths in the United States, the epicenter of the pandemic, have averaged 2,000 a day since mid-April.

 

[Daniel808]

https://www.thejakartapost.com/amp/...china-lab-coronavirus-accusations-report.html

Even Germany stands with China right now

Europe
Coronavirus: German companies plan charter flight to send workers back to China

• Talks are under way for ‘a fast-track procedure’ allowing employees of German companies to re-enter China on the special flight, says a business leader
• In March, China cut most flights into and out of the country, and imposed a ban on most foreigners, even those with valid residence visas

Topic | Coronavirus pandemic

Agence France-Presse

Reuters

Published: 10:01pm, 13 May, 2020

Updated: 5:02am, 14 May, 2020

German companies are preparing to charter a flight to China this month, a business leader said on Wednesday, in a sign that Beijing may further ease a ban on most foreigners that was imposed to avoid importing virus cases.


Talks are under way for “a fast-track procedure” allowing employees of German firms to re-enter China on the special flight, said Jens Hildebrandt, executive director for the German Chamber of Commerce in North China.


The aim is to help companies bring back “urgently required personnel”, with the German embassy and German chamber working with Chinese authorities to make this happen as soon as May 25.


“We hope that this can serve as a blueprint to get more foreign employees back to China,” said Hildebrandt, adding that the process generally applies to staff who hold valid residence permits.

There may be more charter flights later, if the first proves to be successful, he said.


In late March, China drastically cut flight routes to and from the country, and imposed a ban on most foreigners – even those with valid residence visas.

But a list of those boarding the aircraft will have to be approved by Chinese authorities, and travellers will need to have their visas issued or reinstated, he said.

Passengers will also need proof of a negative Covid-19 test result valid for 48 hours before their departure, issued by their company doctor, local health authorities or an institute providing commercial tests.


Upon arrival in China, they will need to take another Covid-19 and antibody test, and have to undergo a mandatory quarantine for 48 hours in Shanghai.

China has reached an agreement with South Korea to set up a ‘fast track’ for businesspeople to return. Photo: AFP


The German chamber confirmed that foreign nationals eligible to apply for the flight include those needed for necessary economic, trade, scientific or technological activities – or those who have to travel due to emergency humanitarian needs.


A notice circulated to member companies, seen by AFP, said the expected economy-class ticket price is about €2,500 (US$2,700).


The cost for Covid-19 testing, accommodation and transport involved in the return to China will be borne by companies.


China has reached an agreement with South Korea to set up a “fast track” for businesspeople to return, following the entry ban aimed at curbing the spread of the deadly pathogen.


Beijing is also in talks with other countries such as Singapore to set up a similar channel to stabilise economic cooperation and ensure that supply chains run smoothly.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: EPA-EFE


Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Wednesday not to endanger what they had achieved so far in slowing the spread of the coronavirus by rushing back to normality too fast.


Europe’s biggest economy, battered by a lockdown that started in mid-March, is being closely watched after managing to keep its coronavirus death rate lower than other countries despite having a high number of confirmed cases.


Shops, schools and factories have started up again, and some borders will begin to reopen this week. But the rule of keeping a distance of 1.5 metres from others still stands and masks are required on public transport and in most shops.


Coronavirus pandemic mires European Union’s market drive into China
11 May 2020

Merkel, a trained physicist whose scientific approach to the crisis has been praised, has consistently urged caution in the face of intense pressure from some state premiers and businesses that have pushed for a faster relaxation.


“Corona remains a danger for everyone of us,” Merkel told the Bundestag lower house of parliament, adding that Germans would be living with the pandemic for some time yet as there is still no effective treatment or vaccine.


“It would be depressing if we have to return to restrictions that we want to leave behind us because we want too much too soon,” Merkel said.

https://amp.scmp.com/news/world/eur...an-companies-plan-charter-flight-send-workers

Now even hundreds of germans scramble to go to China to start working again.

Even according clowns in here, China economy doomed