On a bad note, the essay that got millionaire, party member, and popular blogger Ren Zhiqiang disappeared last month has now been translated into English and published on the broader internet. It's pretty mild stuff. If interested, you might want to read the analogous piece by Laurie Garrett in The New Republic entitled "Grim Reapers". She blames Xi and Trump:
It is tragic and perverse that animosities between two egotistical leaders and their sycophantic circles of advisers have placed the entire world in grave peril.
...
Trump refuses to grasp scientific principles, on any topic, and openly contradicts his leading public health and scientific research advisers. For his part, President Xi Jinping remains determined to change the conversation regarding the origins of SARS-CoV-2, removing all references to its linkage to Wuhan.I tend to be fairly conservative about blaming leaders. We could always get someone worse, right? But in this case I'm no longer sure.
And the news late this afternoon (late evening in London) is that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been hospitalized, and will stay at least until tomorrow. Definitely not trying to jinx him, but it has been well over a century since a major world leader has died of a communicable disease acquired while in office.
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