By Bill Koenig
Coronavirus has taken focus off Trump-China trade deal and Trump “deal of the century”
We have watched and experienced a series of major historical events since January 15: President Trump’s White House signing of a Chinese trade deal on January 15 (CNBC); the enthusiastic White House event on January 28, when President Trump introduced the “deal of the century,” posting his boundary map of how the land of Israel was to be divided for his 71.8 million Twitter followers, which was immediately followed 40 minutes later by a 7.7 earthquake that shook the Miami financial district.
Immediately, after Trump’s introduction of his vision for dividing the covenant land of Israel, the world community spoke against the deal, including the Arab League, Organization of Islamic States, the EU and the U.N. Security Council.
Trump selected U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as acting director of intelligence on Thursday, February 20, as the first gay member ever to serve in a U.S. Cabinet.
This Monday President Trump’s team of U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Freidman, Freidman’s chief of staff Aryeh Lightstone and White House envoy Ari Berkowitz were working with Israel on an annexation map of Judea and Samaria — what was to be Israel’s land and what was to be the Palestinians.
On Tuesday the U.N. Security Council unanimously called for 'two-state solution' to be respected and their previous resolutions, and on Wednesday the U.N. Middle East advisor slammed ‘worrying’ Israeli plans to build in West Bank, East Jerusalem.
At the same time, 50 countries worldwide were reeling from the coronavirus outbreak. China led the pack, and Iran will very possibly move into second position due to public exposure in Qom, Iran, the religious center of Iran (more details below).
On Wednesday the Jerusalem Post reported that Mike Pence will address AIPAC next week, the 18,000-strong pro-Israel lobby gathering in Washington, DC, for their annual Policy Conference. There are many applause lines he can predictably count on from Trump’s plan: Jerusalem, disarming Hamas, annexation of territory and more. But he could also use that platform to break with Obama and announce that the president is immediately implementing the section of the “deal of the century” on energy and water for Gaza.
Wednesday night President Trump selected Vice President Pence to head up the coronavirus task force.
Thursday afternoon Vice President Pence added the U.S. government’s top HIV/AIDS expert Deborah Birx, because the coronavirus is mutating like HIV/AIDS. Coronavirus is far more likely than SARS to bond to human cells due to HIV-like mutation, scientists say (article below).
Birx is a career government official who was nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2014 as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid programs combating the epidemic. She also served as head of the global HIV/AIDS division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was a top research official at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
By the end of trading Friday, the U.S. stock market had lost $3.6 trillion in market capitalization according to the Wall Street Journal, the worst one week sell off since 2008.
The coronavirus is a “perfect storm”: appears to have accidentaly leaked from a bio weapon facility in Wuhan, China; a virus that is 80 percent contagious; professionals unsure what to expect; has the power to completely disrupt every area of life; has no border restriction; all of this happening at the release of the Trump-China trade deal; the Trump “land for peace” deal; a 7.7 quake within 40 minutes of President Trump’s posting his boundary map of the covenant land; appointing a gay intel chief who will be the first openly gay member of a U.S. administration.
And next week Vice President Mike Pence will be spending most of his day leading the U.S. coronavirus task force, while taking time out on Wednesday to speak to 18,000 Jewish activists at the AIPAC policy conference on details of the Trump “deal of the century,” pertaining to God’s covenant land.
Moreover, President Trump’s extensive Chinese trade negotiations effort and U.S. stock market success are being decimated.
Chinese companies are being rocked. Bloomberg News reported a survey of small- and medium-sized Chinese companies conducted this month showed that a third of respondents only had enough cash to cover fixed expenses for a month, with another third running out within two (article below).
Economic Perfect Storm
China has become an economic powerhouse. At the time of the 9-11-2001 terror events, the Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) was $1 trillion; in 2019 it was $14 trillion. A large part of that came from U.S. financial stimulation to an economy that was reeling after 9/11 and then further stimulated after the 2007-2008 U.S. financial collapse, the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression.
The 9/11 terror events in New York City and Washington, DC, occurred the day after G.W. Bush and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah had all but completed Bush’s two-state plan; G.W. Bush sponsored the Annapolis Peace Conference in November 27, 2007, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA President Mahmoud Abbas and representatives of 50 nations, with peace talks to the end of the Bush term — followed by a financial crisis and $700 billion bank bailout in October 2008 that sent ripples through the world’s financial markets.
Financial markets don’t like unknowns, and coronavirus is an unknown like very few; people have only begun to experience the significant impact and have no way to gauge the depth of this supply-chain disruption to powerhouse economies in the US, Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea and others. Iran very likely will move to number two in cases on the list behind China in the next week or two. They are number two in deaths. It broke out in Qom, Iran, the Shiite religious center in Iran. Iran’s leaders are in denial and are trying to downplay the crisis among their other major problems.
China also supplies a major percent of U.S. prescription drugs (article below). And China is one of the world leaders in Christian persecution.
I have consumed an enormous amount of news this week. Below are some of the key facts, and we will have more next week. I would also add that corporate America has been a major promotor and sponsor of LGBT events. Sadly, U.S. airlines have also been major promoters of the LGBT agenda.
According to Harvard educated Dr. Frances Boyle, who authored the Biological Weapons Act in 1989 that was unanimously passed by Congress, the coronavirus epicenter initiated from a bio-terror facility in Wuhan, China. Dr. Boyle said this is a weaponized SARS. He said it appears that the virus accidentally escaped that facility.
According to Dr. Boyle, the coronavirus is 80 percent contagious, and so far, the mortality rate is 2.5 percent. SARS was 60 percent contagious with 9.55 percent mortality.
Rafi Kot, an Israeli physician: Haaretz
“It’s an enigmatic disease,” Kot said in an interview, explaining the challenges health officials in Vietnam faced and those in Israel may be facing in the weeks ahead.
First, the biggest problem is that the coronavirus was the perfect epidemic because it happened just as millions of Chinese and Vietnamese were traveling for Chinese New Year. That was a major factor in its spread. Second, it’s different because in contrast to SARS, for example, it infects people long before they show symptoms. A large number of patients have no idea they’re sick and continue to go around and spread it.”
Dow tumbles as worst week since the financial crisis continues - CNBC
EU condemns Israeli construction in E1 area near Jerusalem - Israel National News
The Middle East’s Future of Perpetual Pandemics – Michael Knight - Washington Institute
Coronavirus live updates: WHO raises global risk from 'high' to 'very high' - ABC News
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has been alerted to the first manufacturing shortage of an unnamed drug due to the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak that began in China and has now reached the U.S.