With the world gripped in the COVID-19 pandemic, China and its authoritarian regime thought it was a golden opportunity to garner some quick nickels by distributing sub-standard medical equipment to the countries in duress. In a race to meet the explosion in demand to combat the pandemic, rogue Chinese manufacturers went on a rampage and started delivering cheap medical apparatus that was deemed unfit to be used by the frontline workers in hospitals. Unscrupulous Chinese factories, eager to cash in, have been cutting corners where they can, including manufacturers with no relevant experience joining in.
After huge backlash from Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey, The Philippines, Ukraine and many other countries, China had to roll back its ‘medical-aides’ which was part of its diplomatic charm offensive strategy. With the world starting to reject the Made in China kits, the communist regime has now understood that its testing kits are outright bad and as a result has banned exports from some companies. But it was not always like this. Initially, China tried to pin the blame on the first countries to complain such as Spain and Czech Republic, and their ‘inadequate understanding of testing methods.’
Testing kits providers in China reported that some foreign countries’ inadequate understanding of testing methods, misplaced order consultations and logistical obstacles are the biggest difficulties in exporting #testingkits. #coronavirus https://t.co/gjXkTyKlvX pic.twitter.com/FEUosLS9yn
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 28, 2020
According to a joint statement issued on Tuesday by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, General Administration of Customs and the National Medical Products Administration the manufacturers of Wuhan virus test kits and related medical supplies have been told they can no longer export their products unless they also have the relevant licences to sell their products in the domestic market. A move which the Xi Jinping government should have thought of much earlier.
The new rule applies to all companies seeking to export test kits, face masks, protective clothing, ventilators and infrared thermometers, according to a joint statement issued on Tuesday by the Ministry of Commerce, General Administration of Customs and the National Medical Products Administration.
Previously, Chinese exporters were required only to have CE certification to indicate their goods conformed to the health and safety standards required for sale within the European Economic Area. Interestingly, as of last week, out of 102 Chinese companies with CE accreditation, just 21 were licensed to sell their products within China.
Spain and the Czech Republic had earlier reported that the Wuhan virus rapid tests their respective countries had received from China were faulty and had a high error rate. Spain had found out that 6,40,000 testing kits it bought from China did not work accurately, out of which 58,000 had already been returned. Madrid stopped using the rapid Covid-19 test kit made by the Chinese company immediately and switched back to the PCR test, which takes up to four hours for a diagnosis, while rapid tests take between 10 to 15 minutes.
In the Czech Republic, up to 80 per cent of the 300,000 rapid Wuhan virus test kits ordered from China were not working properly. The test kits, worth 54 million korunas (€1.83 million), showed false positive as well as negative results.
The Dutch government ordered a recall of around 600,000 masks out of a shipment of 1.3 million from China after they failed to meet quality standards. The defective masks had already been distributed to several hospitals currently battling the COVID-19 outbreak
In Philippines the Department of Health (DOH) of discarded Wuhan virus test kits that came from China because these were only 40% accurate. The DOH had procured 1,00,000 test kits from China that reached the country on March 21.
The Turkish government also rejected Chinese-made Wuhan virus rapid testing kits after finding out that they gave inaccurate results. “We have received some samples from the company, but we didn’t find them viable and ordered some other testing kit models from a separate Chinese company,” a Turkish official was reported saying.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca confirmed last week that Turkey had tried some rapid antigen tests arrived from China, but authorities “weren’t happy about them.”
“There are too many distributors in China, so we have to improve our quality checks and help foreign buyers source reliable products.” an agent who helps source Chinese suppliers told the South China Morning Post. The statement proves the state of affairs in China regarding the quality of medical products where companies are only working on the crisis-profiteering model.
It needs to be seen if the new rules would be tightly implemented by the Beijing government or not. If any company is caught trying to undermine or circumvent them should be punished accordingly and immediately, otherwise this whole exercise would be a sham.
The entire pandemic is the making of China and WHO. They have single-handedly brought the entire planet down on its knees. The global confirmed cases is set to reach one million mark in the coming two days. China is an agent of chaos that has impeded the world growth and it is answerable to every country for its despicable behaviour.
