Outbreak around Beijing; WHO investigation; "Is America collapsing?"; Like a flowing river

The Hebei outbreak continues, the pressure to contain it and prevent its spread into Beijing is intensifying. Spring Festival travel is going to be massively reduced across China because of this latest outbreak.

It appears officials did not fully appreciate the challenges of potential spread in rural areas, and now they are stuck trying to prevent a much larger resurgence just before the largest annual travel period, and less than two months before the “Two Meetings” in Beijing, which were delayed last year due to the pandemic. Another delay this year would be politically embarrassing. Hebei Party Secretary Wang Dongfeng 王东峰 and Beijing Party Secretary Cai Qi 蔡奇 must be quite stressed.

US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft is longer going to Taiwan this week. Secretary of State Pompeo’s trip to Europe is also off. The State Department issued a statement that it is cancelling all travel by State Department officials because they “are expecting shortly a plan from the incoming administrat…