- US snatches masks from Germany, Canada, France ... Archived Message
- US snatches masks from Germany, Canada, France ... - Tomski April 5, 2020, 11:55 am
- ... and China exports key medical supplies ... - Tomski April 5, 2020, 1:05 pm
- Don't forget this bit of self-serving hypocrisy - Poster123 April 5, 2020, 1:18 pm
- The question remains ... - Tomski April 6, 2020, 1:23 am
- ... and China exports key medical supplies ... - Tomski April 5, 2020, 1:05 pm
Posted by Tomski
on April 5, 2020, 11:55 am
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https://www.rt.com/news/484935-us-takes-masks-germany/ With Covid-19 infections climbing, Washington has diverted shipments of vital protective masks from its allies in Germany and Canada to the US. A Berlin senator described the move as “modern piracy.” As confirmed coronavirus cases passed 250,000 in the US this week, the White House pressured safety gear manufacturer 3M to step up imports of protective masks from its Chinese factories. Trump publicly promised on Thursday that 3M would “have a big price to pay” if it didn’t increase supply to the US. We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks. “P Act” all the way. Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing - will have a big price to pay! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2020 But behind the scenes, American officials were acquiring these masks by more underhand means. A delivery of 200,000 masks left a 3M factory in China this week and arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, from where they were supposed to be sent to the German capital. The masks never got to Berlin, and police in the city told Der Tagesspiegel that the shipment was instead bound for the US. Berlin's Senator for the Interior Andreas Geisel confirmed on Friday that the masks had been “confiscated.” “We consider this an act of modern piracy. This is not how you deal with transatlantic partners,” Geisel said. Berlin says that US confiscated 200,000 masks (FFP2 and FFP3) at airport in Bangkok that were ordered for Berlin police. Masks were produced by a 3M factory (US company) in China. City of Berlin says this is "modern piracy" and urges Merkel government to address this with the US. https://t.co/2kXfFCGOHq — Daniel Drepper (@danieldrepper) April 3, 2020 Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik told Tagesspiegel that she believes 3M redirected the shipment because of the US government’s export ban. The company denied the charge, while a White House spokesman told another German newspaper that the accusation of piracy was “completely wrong.” Yet Germany isn’t the only country to see its shipments apparently nabbed by the Americans. In Canada last week, Le Journal de Montreal reported that a shipment of masks bound for hospitals in the city was diverted to the US state of Ohio. Shipping firm DHL later attributed this to a “computer error,” but Montreal hospital supplier Fan Zhou claimed his order eventually arrived 10,000 masks short. As a planeload of masks was loaded up and prepared for departure from Shanghai to France this week, American buyers turned up on the tarmac at the last minute to purchase the shipment for three times its value. “A French order was bought out with cash by Americans on the tarmac, and the plane that was to fly to France took off for the US instead,” Rénaud Muselier, the head of the southeastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region told RT France on Wednesday. Then, as now, Washington officials denied having any involvement. Etc. |
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