Major news media ignoring too much | Letters to the Editor | chronicleonline.com

2022-11-07 15:29:29 By : Qiujie He

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On Oct. 26, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion entitled, “How China Abuses U.S. Diplomats.” The article describes how diplomats representing the United States have been treated. Among the sources of the Wall Street Journal article is a 97-page memo to the acting chief of the U.S. China mission describing mistreatment of our diplomats. The practices by China directed at our diplomatic personnel were disguised as China’s zero-COVID policy. For the sake of brevity, accusations by our diplomats included: Imprisonment. Thirty diplomats (16 according to the State Department) were imprisoned for weeks in individual rooms; Unsanitary hotels. The quarantined diplomats were forced to stay in two dirty, mold-infested hotels suspected to be owned by the Chinese government. Family Separation. Children older than 14 were separated from their families and placed in rooms by themselves; Ineffective quarantines. Numerous families who tested negative when they arrived tested positive during the 14-day quarantine period and were transported to facilities called fever clinics rather than hospitals; Virtual imprisonment. Fever clinics were small dirty rooms, some of which were shipping containers with doors locked and windows barred; Overdone testing. Arriving diplomats were required to undergo nasal and throat swabs, provide sputum, urine and stool samples and submit to EKG and CT scans; Child abuse. Children were forcibly restrained while being tested with adult size nasal swabs. Some experienced nosebleeds and trauma. Unsanitary conditions. Quarantine facilities lacked soap, toilet paper, towels, laundry service and often potable water. Because food was minimal, many reported notable weight loss. Excessive quarantine. One family spent 69 days in a fever clinic and quarantine facility; No medical care. Diplomats in quarantine were denied urgent medical care. A person with stomach pain was advised to ride it out before he was later (after release from quarantine) diagnosed with appendicitis. These and other violations of basic humanity, diplomatic immunity and international courtesy ended after Ambassador Nicholas Burns arrived in China in March 2022. But our government failed to protect our diplomats from abuse by China over a considerable amount of time before Burns arrived. China should, as a minimum, amend its ways and apologize for these abuses. This should never be permitted to happen again. A final observation: Here is another case of news not being reported by major news media. Zerrin U. Langer Pine Ridge Estates