Chinese censors disrupted the vice president's debate on Wednesday to prevent viewers from listening seriously to Beijing's concerns about the coronavirus epidemic, just after Vice President Mike Pence began talking about the subject. Gesture left
The debate was being broadcast’ on CNN in
China, a channel that regularly intervenes through censors. In general, the
channel is not widely available in China, it is mostly available by foreigners
in hotels, diplomatic compounds and apartment blocks.
The signal dropped for about 30 seconds
during Wednesday's debate. The blockade came as Pence said "China is
responsible" when talking about the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, which
has so far killed more than 211,000 Americans and infected more than 7.5
million. Including President Donald Trump and a White House staffer.
Nathan VanderKlippe, a Beijing
correspondent for Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, noted on Twitter that
CNN's signal had been cut off’ during the debate. He posted a picture of the
barrier showing a screen reading: "No sign, please stand up."
"China censored Pence's comments on China. When Harris started talking
again, the signal came back," wrote VanderKlippe.
The Australian Associated Press also
reported that Chinese censors had taken steps to block Pence's comments.
In the closing part of the debate, Pence
reiterated the Trump administration's focus on attacks on Beijing over
epidemics. The White House has accused China of hiding the extent and severity
of the COVID-19 outbreak, and the World Health Organization for helping the
Chinese facilitate the deception.
"China is responsible for the coronavirus and President Trump is not happy about it," Pence said Wednesday.
"China and the World Health Organization did not play directly with the
American people. They did not allow our personnel in China to receive
information about the coronavirus until mid-February."
Pence also reiterated the misleading claim
- repeatedly pushed by Trump and his allies that the president had suspended
"all travel from China" in January. Trump has claimed that the move
"saved hundreds of thousands of lives", although nothing has been
offered to support that number.
Trump's sanctions on China did not ban all
travel from the country to the United States, which only prevented the entry of
foreign nationals who had been in China for the past 14 days. Americans and
permanent residents were still allowed’ to enter, even if returning from Hubei
Province, where the first outbreak occurred, related to a 14-day break.
Hundreds of thousands of passengers still
entered the United States on flights from China after the ban, and as of
February 27, travelers to the United States did not face any restrictions or
quarantine measures.
However, the coronavirus was already
present in the United States when the sanctions were introduced’. And genetic
analysis has shown that the spread of Americans was not due to travelers from
China. For example, the New York epidemic seems to have been caused’ by people
from Europe.
Harris responded to Pence's remarks by
attacking the administration's Coronavirus record. "The Trump
administration's approach to China has resulted in the loss of American lives,
American jobs and American positions," he said.
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