Posted on 10/31/2014 5:18:38 AM PDT by blam
Megha Rajagopalan, Reuters
October 31, 2014
China will dispatch an elite unit from the People's Liberation Army to help Ebola-hit Liberia, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday, responding to U.N. calls for a greater global effort to fight the deadly virus in West Africa.
Washington has led the international drive to stop the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 5,000 people, sending thousands of troops and committing about $1 billion, but Beijing has faced criticism for not doing enough.
The PLA squad, which has experience from a 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), will build a 100-bed treatment center in Liberia, the first such facility in the three countries most impacted by Ebola to be constructed and run by a foreign country, said Lin Songtian, director general of the ministry's Department of African Affairs.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
The first? So what have we been doing?
I think China and the US are doing this to gather information on the potential weaponization of Ebola.
Interesting
I wonder what is the quid pro quo?
There are many other Chinese doctors working in West African Obola areas — this is perhaps the first Chinese government group.
They are sending the team that dealt with SARS. An American company, Sciclone, had their stock triple during that epidemic because the Chinese were buying an immune system enhancer called Zadaxin “by the boatload”(Thymosin Alpha 1) to combat the disease. It is also approved, in China, as a vaccine adjuvant. Might be a buying opportunity if the Chinese go with what worked against SARS.
We’ve been trying to create a vaccine. That normally requires that people get Ebola and then survive.
China is trying to protect its own interests in West Africa.
Period
"SciClone is a US-based, China-focused specialty pharmaceutical company with a substantial revenue-generating and profitable commercial business and a broad, marketed product portfolio of differentiated therapies for oncology, infectious diseases and cardiovascular disorders."
Good thought...will be worth watching. Looks like other folks remember that too as the stock just hit a 52 week high.
Didn't cross my mind when we sent ours, but a red flag dropped when I saw China just deploy.
You think they are going to dance back into China after being around Ebola victims?
"Samples. Bring back samples."
“Elite,” ... one of the top handful of words at risk today of being overused into uselessness.
When you’re the world’s creditor you can afford to do things like this (and a whole lot more!).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.