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 by Soeren Kern  •  May 7, 2020 at 5:00 am       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. Continue Reading Article