© Provided by Washington Examiner In a rare moment of truth on Saturday, a top Chinese Communist Party official observed that China's COVID-19 vaccines aren't very effective.
Gao Fu, the head of China's Centers for Disease Control, noted that the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines "don't have very high protection rates." Considering the barely 50% protection offered by China's Sinopharm vaccine and the roughly 80% protection offered by its Sinovac vaccine, Gao's assessment represents an obvious fact. Especially when one compares China's vaccines to the 97%+ effectiveness of the American Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
Gao said that it might be necessary to adapt how future doses of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are administered. Gao also abandoned the Chinese Communist Party's previous skepticism of mRNA-based vaccine processes. As the Associated Press notes, China has attempted to undermine the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine's "experimental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process." Gao now says that "everyone should consider the benefits mRNA vaccines can bring for humanity. We must follow it carefully and not ignore it just because we already have several types of vaccines already."
Well said.
Still, not everyone is happy. Beijing's communist high command had a predictably allergic reaction to Gao's truth telling.
Council on Foreign Relations scholar Yanzhong Huang observed that Gao's comments were quickly censored on social media. On Sunday, Gao was summoned before Beijing's Global Times foreign-influencing outlet. The scientist suggested that there was a "complete misunderstanding" of his remarks less than 24 hours before. Gao then clumsily attempted to explain why what he had so plainly said was not actually what he had said.
The damage is done, and the communists can't turn back time.
Beijing's censoring and so pathetically backtracking on Gao's comments will be taken around the world for what it is: truth of the regime's utter disdain for honesty. Xi Jinping and his minions have reminded everyone that they can't be trusted. For governments such as Turkey, which have invested heavily in Chinese vaccines, this is an embarrassing blow. Gao has given the international community more reason to keep asking questions over the origins of the coronavirus. But with Gao also offering praise for the U.S. vaccine research that Beijing previously assailed, the embarrassment is twofold. Beijing views the vaccine race as a critical element of its competition with the U.S. for leadership of the international order. By its own admission, it has now lost part of that competition.
Gao's honesty also poses a domestic challenge. After all, Xi and the Chinese Communist Party are insecure in their authority over the mainland. This is a major motivation behind the regime's hypersensitivity to personal criticism of Xi, political dissident movements in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and, as they see it, Taiwan. Reflecting this sensitivity, the Communists have expended vast efforts to present their management of the coronavirus pandemic as world-leading in efficacy and skillful management. Gao's comments do not exactly serve that narrative. Even if the censors can restrain the spread of his comments, the rumor mill will carry at least marginal damage to Xi's interests.
Put another way, Gao is unlikely to be getting a promotion anytime soon.
Tags: Opinion, Beltway Confidential, Foreign Policy, National Security, China, Communist Party, Coronavirus, Health, Vaccination, Propaganda, Xi Jinping, Beijing
Original Author: Tom Rogan
Original Location: China admits, then censors, the fact that its vaccines are poor