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by CydeWeys 2293 days ago
China isn't an information blackhole nor do they have perfect censorship. If the outbreak were still accelerating in an exponential fashion it'd be impossible to hide it from the world. They have successfully hit the inflection point on their logistics curve of viral spread (for now, anyway).
3 comments

And China is reportedly sending equipment to Italy - not something they would do if the infections were still growing. Their actions seem to align with their message.
Genuine question, do you happen to have a source? Not that I don't believe you, I am just curious about the details, such as how many units, for how much (is it free?), etc.
> Wang assured Di Maio that Italian orders for the ventilators would be made a priority by Chinese firms after similar requests were made by other European countries.

Thanks for sharing, I really appreciate it.

Please correct me if I misunderstood, but the wording makes it sound like they were ordering them from China, i.e., buying, not receiving it as a donation. Which is exactly what I was afraid of. Money is money, and I can totally see some governments, especially the PRC one, prioritizing that over the actual help for their own citizens. Especially in the scenario where they know they are screwed no matter what, so might as well make some quick bucks.

That’s a rather baseless claim.
China now reports that they've already closed 14 temporary hospitals in Wuhan due to decreasing case numbers, and a few more are scheduled to be closed in the next few days: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/09/c_138859119.htm

That does not look like the kind of news you'd fake, or would risk doing purely for propaganda reasons.

>nor do they have perfect censorship

Which is exactly how we get all those leaks and info from silenced doctors.

Yeah, it's a story of failed censorship and the truth coming out anyway, not successful censorship hiding the scale of the problem. That's impossible so long as China is on the Internet.
They cannot stop all of it, so things will definitely leak out. However, they can stop a giant majority of it, so while we still get the leaks, the magnitude of the prevented leaks is probably still significant enough that the censorship can be considered as "working".
Do not underestimate the Great Firewall. But anyways, from a manufacturing and distribution of basic essential health supplies, and more, China is probably best positioned to help save the world.