Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Moscow targets Chinese with raids amid virus fears
ABC News ^ | February 23, 2020, 8:15 AM | DARIA LITVINOVA and FRANCESCA EBEL

Posted on 02/23/2020 7:10:16 PM PST by Zhang Fei

MOSCOW -- Bus drivers in Moscow kept their WhatsApp group chat buzzing with questions this week about what to do if they spotted passengers who might be from China riding with them in the Russian capital.

“Some Asian-looking (people) have just got on. Probably Chinese. Should I call (the police)?” one driver messaged his peers. “How do I figure out if they’re Chinese? Should I ask them?” a colleague wondered.

The befuddlement reflected in screenshots of the group exchanges seen by The Associated Press had a common source - instructions from Moscow's public transit operator Wednesday for drivers to call a dispatcher if Chinese nationals boarded their buses, Russian media reported.

A leaked email that the media reports said was sent by the state-owned transportation company Mosgortrans told dispatchers who took such calls to notify the police. The email, which the company immediately described on Twitter as fake, carried a one-word subject line: coronavirus.

Since the outbreak of the new virus that has infected more than 76,000 people and killed more than 2,300 in mainland China, Russia has reported two cases. Both patients, Chinese nationals hospitalized in Siberia, recovered quickly. Russian authorities nevertheless are going to significant — some argue discriminatory — lengths to keep the virus from resurfacing and spreading.

Moscow officials ordered police raids of hotels, dormitories, apartment buildings and businesses to track down the shrinking number of Chinese people remaining in the city. They also authorized the use of facial recognition technology to find those suspected of evading a 14-day self-quarantine period upon their arrival in Russia.

“Conducting raids is an unpleasant task, but it is necessary, for the potential carriers of the virus as well,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement outlining various methods to find and track Chinese people the city approved as

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: china; coronavirus; epidemic; kag; maga; russia; trump; virus
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last
Tough assignment, given that 1 of 10 Russian nationals has an Asiatic appearance., and that's not including all the mixes (e.g. Yeltsin and Shoigu, the current defense minister).

Then there's the Central Asian migrants working in Russia. Kazakh women in traditional costume:


1 posted on 02/23/2020 7:10:16 PM PST by Zhang Fei
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

Send the women to my place for inspection.


2 posted on 02/23/2020 7:11:32 PM PST by dp0622 (Radicals, racists Don't point finger at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to makne ends meet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dp0622

Nice work, if you can get it.


3 posted on 02/23/2020 7:13:31 PM PST by Pearls Before Swine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

The difference between Han Chinese and other Asian groups is obvious for a trained eye.


4 posted on 02/23/2020 7:13:47 PM PST by NorseViking
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

.


5 posted on 02/23/2020 7:14:14 PM PST by sauropod (David Horowitz: “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

A lot of Mongolians in Russia, as well.


6 posted on 02/23/2020 7:15:23 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dp0622

You’ll need backup, I offer my skilled services.


7 posted on 02/23/2020 7:24:48 PM PST by NativeSon ( What Would Virginia Do? #WWVD)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: NativeSon; dp0622

Sorry guys, they are already here enjoying a nice Zin with me. We are working on the language barrier right now.


8 posted on 02/23/2020 7:28:17 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

The difference between the Mongolian and Chinese is more than between the German and Arab.


9 posted on 02/23/2020 7:32:57 PM PST by NorseViking
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

“NO!” is fairly universally understood.


10 posted on 02/23/2020 7:35:02 PM PST by Rebelbase
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

Where are the flights to Kazakhstan at?


11 posted on 02/23/2020 7:42:58 PM PST by SmokingJoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom; NativeSon

lol

If you need any help, I speak the language of love.

But it’s been so long I forgot most of the language! :)


12 posted on 02/23/2020 7:43:01 PM PST by dp0622 (Radicals, racists Don't point finger at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to makne ends meet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei; neverdem; ProtectOurFreedom; Mother Abigail; EBH; vetvetdoug; Smokin' Joe; Global2010; ..
Governments' responses worry as much as the disease itself.
Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

13 posted on 02/23/2020 7:44:43 PM PST by null and void (By the pricking of my lungs, Something wicked this way comes ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rebelbase

Fortunately, they know “come hither” better than “NO!” Just look at the babe on the right and that cute finger on the cheek!


14 posted on 02/23/2020 7:53:44 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: dp0622

LOL. I speak the language of love, but some parts just don’t perk up to it like they used to.


15 posted on 02/23/2020 7:54:12 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

2600 deaths / 77000 infected = a little over 3 percent death rate among the infected in China, if those numbers are believed to represent similar portions of the real dead and infected there. In western countries, only those who are concerned about the elderly and obese would care much.

http://www.arirang.com/news/News_View.asp?nseq=253034


16 posted on 02/23/2020 7:57:00 PM PST by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." - -Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

:)


17 posted on 02/23/2020 8:03:52 PM PST by dp0622 (Radicals, racists Don't point finger at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to makne ends meet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

The raids are a drastic response, but the fears are understandable.

Source: Many Medical Staff Infected at Major Hospital in Wuhan, China, After Treating Coronavirus Patients
https://www.theepochtimes.com/source-many-medical-staff-infected-at-major-hospital-in-wuhan-china-after-treating-coronavirus-patients_3247813.html


18 posted on 02/23/2020 8:13:32 PM PST by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." - -Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorseViking

It would appear that Moscow’s bus drivers lack the trained eye you mentioned.


19 posted on 02/23/2020 8:13:55 PM PST by Slainte
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Slainte

That’s given the article is not a baloney. Half of the bus drivers in Moscow are Asians themselves. They sure know the difference between themselves and the Chinese.


20 posted on 02/23/2020 8:18:53 PM PST by NorseViking
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson