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In this mailing:
* Soeren Kern: Coronavirus: European Leaders Cower in the Face of China
* Con Coughlin: Iran Accused of Spreading Coronavirus Throughout the Middle East


** Coronavirus: European Leaders Cower in the Face of China ([link removed])
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by Soeren Kern • May 7, 2020 at 5:00 am
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url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gatestoneinstitute.org%2F15994%2Fcoronavirus-europe-china&pubid=ra-52f7af5809191749&ct=1&title=Coronavirus%3A+European+Leaders+Cower+in+the+Face+of+China [link removed]
* The equivocation of European leaders is a reflection not only of Europe's geopolitical weakness and economic overdependence on China, but also of a moral vacuum in which they refuse to stand up for Western values.
* Meanwhile, the French government allowed the Chinese telecom company Huawei to supply parts for its 5G mobile network. The concession was made after China threatened to retaliate against European companies in the Chinese market.
* "No country with a skerrick of self-respect can allow this behavior to go unpunished. I have already suggested some punitive measures designed to wound the regime's pride without harming the Chinese people: cancel the Huawei deal; pass a Magnitsky-style Act targeting senior CPC figures; champion the Uyghurs at every opportunity (e.g. rename the London street that houses the Chinese embassy after a Uyghur political prisoner); and recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. All I would add, upon reflection, is this: grant British citizenship to Hong Kongers born before 1 July 1997, their children and grandchildren." — Scottish political commentator Stephen Daisley.
* "We increasingly hear words of admiration in Europe about the speed and efficiency of the Chinese market economy, the rigorous nature of its crisis management. All the time gladly ignoring the fact that China's successes rest on a highly perfected system of digital surveillance that translates the perversions of the KGB and Stasi into the 21st century." — Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, Europe's largest publishing company.
* "It is remarkable that German politics, with its love of moralizing, seems to throw its values out the window when dealing with China. What is at stake here is nothing less than what kind of society we want to live in and our concept of humanity." — Mathias Döpfner.

In Europe, where the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 100,000 people and caused economic devastation, political leaders have been deafeningly silent on demanding accountability from China. Pictured: French President Emmanuel Macron (center) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Paris on March 26, 2019. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

Australia and the United States are leading a campaign for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Senior officials in both countries are seeking to determine if the virus originated in nature or in a Chinese laboratory. They are also calling on the Chinese government to account for its handling of the initial outbreak in the city of Wuhan.

In Europe, where the pandemic has killed more than 100,000 people and caused economic devastation on a scale not seen since the Second World War, political leaders have been deafeningly silent on demanding accountability from China. While a handful of European officials have agreed in principle that there should be an investigation at some undetermined point in the future, most appear afraid to challenge China directly.

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** Iran Accused of Spreading Coronavirus Throughout the Middle East ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • May 7, 2020 at 4:00 am
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* At the same time that the airline [Iran's Mahan Air] was flying to China, it also continued operations to other countries in the Middle East, with the result that it has now been accused of spreading the virus to a number of countries including Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Lebanon. Mahan Air has so far declined to comment on the allegations
* Sources within the airline are said to have told the BBC that dozens of Mahan Air's cabin crew were showing symptoms of Covid-19 after the flights to China, but that when staff tried to raise concerns about the airline's management of the crisis and provision of safety equipment, they were silenced.
* Claims that Iran has been responsible for spreading the virus throughout the Middle East could also have a negative impact on Tehran's hopes of persuading the International Monetary Fund to provide a $5 billion bailout package. The IMF says the request is still under consideration, but it is unlikely the organisation will be prepared to provide funding to a regime whose irresponsible behaviour threatens the well-being of other countries.

There is mounting evidence that Iran has been instrumental in spreading the Covid-19 virus throughout the Middle East. According to BBC News Arabic, Mahan Air, an Iranian airline with close links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), flew between Iran and a number of Chinese destinations more than 100 times during February and March, even after Tehran had imposed a ban on such journeys. Pictured: A Mahan Air passenger jet at Sanaa International Airport, Yemen. (Photo credit should read Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)

Mounting evidence that Iran has been instrumental in spreading the Covid-19 virus throughout the Middle East adds a whole new dimension to the regime's already well-established reputation for being a malign influence in the region.

Iran has already acquired the unwelcome distinction of becoming the country in the Middle East that has been worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, registering more than 6,000 deaths according to official figures. There have, however, been repeated accusations that the Iranian authorities have sought to cover up the true extent of the outbreak, and that the death toll may be twice that number.

Now it has emerged that Iran may have contributed to the spread of coronavirus around the Middle East, after allegations that Iranian passenger jets continued to make regular flights to a number of Chinese cities despite a ban being imposed by the Iranian government at the end of January.

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