China Covid deaths ’10 times higher than claimed’ as country uses pandemic in crackdown to control citizens, says MP
CHINA'S coronavirus deaths are ten times higher than claimed with the country using the pandemic to control its citizens, an MP has said.
Tobias Ellwood, Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, said he believes that there is an ongoing coronavirus cover-up in China orchestrated by the Beijing government.
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Speaking to the , Mr Ellwood said: "I don’t believe China has come through this to the success that they claim.
“The death rate in Wuhan is 10 times higher than what I believe is in the public domain."
After pictures surfaced of residents in Wuhan celebrating New Year's Eve in large crowds, Mr Ellwood said it "felt like a kick in the teeth," adding that there was a "feeling of when will this end for us too".
While the UK enters its third national lockdown today, China's economy continues to boom as it has in recent months.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said the reason for the growth was the "skilful management of the pandemic".
Reacting to the Centre's report, Mr Ellwood said it was now a "question of whether they had done it deliberately".
He continued: "What we can say is the pandemic has absolutely devastated economies and authoritarian regimes have used their iron fist to be able to clamp down and enforce rules in a much tougher manner than open democracies like ourselves."
The former defence minister also questioned the Chinese government's crackdown on its citizens.
"Not only that, but they have actually seized further power," Mr Ellwood said.
"In the same way the Government has gained emergency powers here in the UK, other nations including these less democratic nations have used this as an excuse to gain further surveillance and control over their people.
'EXCUSE TO GAIN FURTHER SURVEILLANCE'
“I expect they will be reluctant to relinquish them. You have to understand the ruthlessness that these countries operate with."
According to the Tory MP, the Chinese government has clamped down on its citizens speaking out against the policies set by Beijing.
"They clamp down on any comments on the internet and arrest anybody who dares to speak out and challenge the government line," he said.
“So we have to take it with a pinch of salt – what China and other similar countries claim to be a success in the pandemic.”
China isn't the only country that has been accused of covering up its coronavirus death toll.
In December, Russia admitted to having the world's third-highest Covid death toll with more than 186,000 recorded casualties.
President Vladimir Putin had previously boasted about the country's low fatality rate from the virus, saying that it had done a "better" job at managing the pandemic than western countries.
But since early in the pandemic, some Russian experts have said the government was playing down the country's outbreak - and officials have now admitted that was true.
The Rosstat statistics agency said that the number of deaths from all causes recorded between January and November had risen by 229,700 compared to the previous year.
It comes as the World Health Organisation announced that China has denied entry to their investigations team who are searching for the origins of the virus.
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On Tuesday WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the scientific team had already departed as part of an arrangement between the organisation and the Chinese government.
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Speaking at a news conference in Geneva yesterday, the Director-General said: "Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalised the necessary permissions for the team’s arrival in China.
"I’m very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute, but had been in contact with senior Chinese officials."
