Chinese Authorities Require Government Offices to Destroy Data Related to Coronavirus Outbreak

In recent weeks, the Chinese regime has reported fewer novel coronavirus diagnoses across the country, making it appear as if the outbreak was leveling off.

The Epoch Times previously obtained confidential internal documents showing that in the coastal province of Shandong, authorities were purposefully under-reporting the number of diagnostic kit test results that turned up positive.

Eyewitnesses in Hubei province, where the outbreak is most severe, also told the publication that many people were unable to be diagnosed and treated at hospitals due to over-capacity, but were exhibiting symptoms and self-quarantining at home.

Now it appears some local authorities have been required to destroy data they compiled relating to the virus outbreak.

Chaoyang City

The Epoch Times obtained a copy of a Feb. 23 document sent from the Chaoyang city health commission to its provincial counterpart, the Liaoning health commission. The city is located in the country’s northeastern region, thousands of miles away from the virus epicenter in Hubei.

In compliance with the provincial health commission’s instructions, the city has inquired and checked within its government departments and agencies that previously received “documents and data” related to the outbreak, and have duly destroyed them, the document stated.

A confidential government document from the Chaoyang city health commission, dated on Feb. 23, 2020. (Provided to The Epoch Times)

Staff who had access to the data were also required to sign a “letter of commitment,” which stipulated that officials promise to delete relevant documents from their laptops, computers, smartphones, external drive, and so on.

Furthermore, the signee will delete any screenshots and photos he or she made of the documents, and will promise not to share the contents of said documents with any party.

RE: So this corronavirus came from a biological lab in China then?

AS I read the news, it is becoming more and more apparent to me that:

1) The origins of the virus WAS NOT from the Huanan Wet Market as originally alleged.

2) It was IMPORTED into the market from an external source.

3) The source ( patient zero ) most likely came from a biological lab after mishandling of experiment or a test and inadvertently got infected.

This isn’t as big a deal as it might seem. All Chinese government data is secret and confidential unless explicitly allowed to be made public. Decades ago, a Chinese Oxford-trained academic looked into the state archives and discovered that China had spent ~$10b (in the original 50’s, 60’s and 70’s dollars, when that was real money) supporting Southeast Asian insurgencies (an arc that included Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, etc) with arms, training, etc. He published either a book or a paper detailing this information, perhaps thinking this might be of interest to other academics looking to fill in the blanks on the geopolitical aspects of that period’s and region’s history. He was promptly arrested and imprisoned, despite his parents being said to be mid-level Party officials. That account of the incident came from either the South China Morning Post or the (now defunct) Far East Economic Review.

I rewatched the Chernobyl series from HBO. Outstanding.

The principle here is that the world’s perception of China’s power is more important than anything else.

Gorbachev pointed to Chernobyl as the beginning of the end of the USSR. Still, their reaction and the work they did in the aftermath by everyday Soviets was nothing less than heroic.

A telling thing in looking at Chernobyl is the official casualty statistics from the incident. Informative as you examine China’s statistics on COVID19.

Xi may not survive this, and perhaps this is the thing that topples all of it in China. The idea that China could ever be a component of a reliable supply chain is now completely discredited.

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.