Sun Apr 12 18:35:25 2020
<9e126bf3> y’all they are actively preparing for war while we scale back everything. This is nuckin futz. Shit absolutely about to get real <https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/china-claims-zero-infections-its-military>
— China Claims Zero Infections in Its Military
— While militaries around the world are seeing their soldiers fall victim to the coronavirus, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing army, claims it remains virus-free. “China Confirms No Cases of Coronavirus Infection in Military,” said a headline in an official military publication on March 3. There has been no public update on military infections since. In addition to its 2 million-strong active-duty military troops, the country also has an 800,000-strong armed police force.
<9e126bf3> > “We have strengthened personnel training on disease response measures, imposed restrictions on unnecessary personnel movements, and canceled unnecessary gatherings,” Chen said. He said the outbreak has actually “improved the combat readiness of the Chinese military, instead.”
<9e126bf3> Wuhan is militarily strategically important <https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/why-china-developing-military-vessels-center-its-coronavirus>
— Why China is Developing Military Vessels at the Center of its Coronavirus Outbreak
— As China continues to recover from COVID-19, the city where the now global disease began is stepping up ship production for military and commercial purposes as part of its broader economic recovery, domestic media and experts say. A state-owned builder of ships and submarines in Wuhan has worked overtime since March 3, the Chinese state-controlled Global Times news website reported last week. The facility of the China State Shipbuilding Corp.
<9e126bf3> > Wuhan is also known for a military school, a PLA chemical-biological weapons research center, and military logistics, said Alexander Huang, a defense-specialized strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan.
> “Wuhan is the center or the probably most important location for several things,” Huang said. “These are the things I know, the logistics center, the chem-bio research institute and some transportation and others.”
<9e126bf3> <https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/asia/coronavirus-china-us-military-south-china-sea-intl-hnk/index.html>
— Coronavirus may be giving Beijing an opening in the South China Sea
— As the United States military was embroiled in controversy over its handling of an outbreak of coronavirus on one of its Pacific aircraft carriers, China was resuming operations in the South China Sea.
<9e126bf3> > “I think China is exploiting the US Navy’s coronavirus challenges to improve its position in the South China Sea by giving the appearance it can and will operate there at will while the US is hamstrung,” said Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.”I think China is exploiting the US Navy’s coronavirus challenges to improve its position in the South China Sea by giving the appearance it can and will operate there at will while the US is hamstrung,” said Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.
<9e126bf3> LOL riiiight
> At at press briefing on April 3, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, described the spread of the virus as a war. “(But) when fighting an intense battle, does anyone think of how much prize they will get after the war? The most important thing is doing your best and racing against time to achieve the final victory,” said Hua.
> “We would like to share China’s good practice and experience with other countries, but we will not turn it into any kind of geopolitical weapon or tool,” she added.