In December 2019, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) obsession with social control led it to suppress expert warnings about the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Most alarming for the West was the active collaboration of the WHO in spreading the CCP's version of events. It was a shocking example of the widespread co-optation of global institutions by the CCP, as described in Hidden Hand. As soon as Beijing thought it had the virus under control, it began a global propaganda blitz, presenting China's authoritarian system as a model for the rest of the world. Western media and pundits soon began echoing the Party line. 

Vancouver, BC, was the first to discover the virus in Canada and had since reported the first five deaths. Some BC residents of Chinese origin were in Hubei and the city of Wuhan over the Christmas break and travelled back to Canada, infected with a now known deadly virus (Coronavirus or Covid-19). B.C.'s front line doctors had no idea what they were first dealing with, but they understood that the first patients had come from China. Still, crucial epidemiological case information was not shared by Chinese officials with the WHO which left our doctors without protection and little in the way of a defence against a novel virus.  

As I write we are at the early stages of the curve for this Pandemic and we will see the numbers of infected and dead, rise precipitously as testing becomes more widespread. In Canada, we seem to be ahead of the US in our adoption of strong measures to stop the spread. But global citizens are looking for straight forward answers from their leaders and look to the US for leadership. The President of the United States has played the crisis down and his embellishment of the facts or potential cures are doing nothing to stabilize the stock markets around the globe. Let the experts speak. When they do, the markets have stabilized. Markets have plummeted for the past two weeks as governments around the world have tried to stabilize their currencies and allow credit to continue amongst lending institutions. Even in Canada where the most stable financial services system exists they were all scrambling and working with the federal Finance Minister to increase liquidity. Two quick moves by our Bank of Canada have seen our bank rate fall below 1%. These efforts were the first steps in trying to help the businesses that employ Canadians.

Meanwhile south of our border five of the USA's biggest states California, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and New Jersey have shut down all non-essential companies to stem the transmission of the virus between people. The medical experts say this is needed to flatten the curve of the rise in cases. In the short term, the economy will be devastated and hardships faced by everyday citizens around the world will certainly put lots of pressure on our governments. There is no question had the U.S. jumped into action in January when given the warnings we would also not be in this position. But we are, and we must move forward together as global citizens to first stop the spread and then pick up the pieces. 

Once all of the dust settles, Americans and the rest of the world will be asking the question.

How and Why did this happen?

According to co-author Marieke Ohlberg (Hidden Hand), China may well have covered up the epidemic while lying to the WHO about Person to Person Transmission, in early January. On March 20, Ohlberg sent out a tweet capturing the January 14 tweet by the World Health Organization claiming "there is no evidence of person to person transmission." Ohlberg, wanted to capture this tweet for posterity in case the WHO went CCP (see tweet below). The New York Times has since reported that, according to leading medical experts, if China had communicated the outbreak with full transparency, it is believed that 95% fewer people would have been affected around the world. That is a staggering statistic if proven to be true. 

The excellent news for citizens of the world is the timely release of a seminal new book that will provide the insights and answers about what lies behind China's Communist Party and how this crisis most likely got out of control. Hidden Hand; Exposing how the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World by Ohlberg and Hamilton is the seminal narrative on China's espionage, influence peddling and propaganda operations in western democracies. What lies behind this authoritarian crony capitalist society of 1.3 billion people? Many say the leadership bound by a constitution that allows them to cheat lie and steal their way to wealth, all under the guise of serving the people of China.

As we emerge from the current crisis, organizations, governments and citizens of the world will start to ask the critical questions, and when they do, the evidence will once again focus on the CCP. I believe the world will hold the CCP to account, and Hidden Hand will be a guide for many as to how this all happened.

By Alexander Penfold