COVID-19 – and avoiding COVID 20, 21, etc.
Lead Summary
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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their destruction (usually referred to as the Biological Weapons Convention, abbreviation: BWC) was the result of prolonged efforts by the international community to establish a new instrument that would supplement the 1925 Geneva Protocol.
The Geneva Protocol prohibits use – but not possession or development of chemical and biological weapons. A draft of the BWC entered into force March 26, 1975 (from Wikipedia) notes there are 109 signatory nations to this treaty. The United States ratified it March 26, 1975. Interestingly enough, China, while a signatory, falls in the category of “Accession” not “Ratification.”
“'Accession’ is the act whereby a state accepts the offer or the opportunity to become a party to a treaty already negotiated and signed by other states. It has the same legal effect as ratification. Accession usually occurs after the treaty has entered into force” (dictionary definition).
It is time to drag out this treaty and hold China accountable for COVID-19. We have had enough of politicians and others declaring China (is) (is not) responsible for COVID-19. This is similar to one neighbor being accused of murder by other neighbors.
We settle these things in courts of law.
The International Court of Law is in The Hague. Seems like some of our good Congress people who are of the law-abiding inclination should introduce a bill pressuring China to present themselves in The Hague to defend themselves in regard to this matter. How do you pressure China? Trade sanctions tied to their actions or inactions on the subject.
China needs to come before the world and give us an explanation of what happened. It needs to be with credible evidence and witnesses.
Right now, it looks like the world was deliberately hit with a weapon of mass destruction, designed to inflict as much damage as possible on the entire world. I don’t know how else you can categorize what has happened this year.
What we don’t want to happen in the future is COVID-20, 21, 22, etc., Giving China a pass seems to open the possibility to further malfeasance in the future.
Whether COVID-19 was a mistake, or a deliberate act of war is unknown at this time. We deserve to know. All the people of the world deserve to know.
Then, the next step. There has been plenty of criticism of how this was handled, both here and in other countries. I have heard nothing about plans and preparations to avoid such a debacle in the future. Why is there not a conference or convention studying this matter? What are the defenses from such contagion in the future?
Are we going to wear masks from now on?
It seems like there are certain choke points between countries that can be used to somewhat mitigate future dispersions of such biological contaminants. Namely, these would be customs examination stations. But what else can be done?
This is not over when COVID-19 is over; in fact, future safeguards have not even started yet.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.
HCP columnist
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their destruction (usually referred to as the Biological Weapons Convention, abbreviation: BWC) was the result of prolonged efforts by the international community to establish a new instrument that would supplement the 1925 Geneva Protocol.
The Geneva Protocol prohibits use – but not possession or development of chemical and biological weapons. A draft of the BWC entered into force March 26, 1975 (from Wikipedia) notes there are 109 signatory nations to this treaty. The United States ratified it March 26, 1975. Interestingly enough, China, while a signatory, falls in the category of “Accession” not “Ratification.”
“'Accession’ is the act whereby a state accepts the offer or the opportunity to become a party to a treaty already negotiated and signed by other states. It has the same legal effect as ratification. Accession usually occurs after the treaty has entered into force” (dictionary definition).
It is time to drag out this treaty and hold China accountable for COVID-19. We have had enough of politicians and others declaring China (is) (is not) responsible for COVID-19. This is similar to one neighbor being accused of murder by other neighbors.
We settle these things in courts of law.
The International Court of Law is in The Hague. Seems like some of our good Congress people who are of the law-abiding inclination should introduce a bill pressuring China to present themselves in The Hague to defend themselves in regard to this matter. How do you pressure China? Trade sanctions tied to their actions or inactions on the subject.
China needs to come before the world and give us an explanation of what happened. It needs to be with credible evidence and witnesses.
Right now, it looks like the world was deliberately hit with a weapon of mass destruction, designed to inflict as much damage as possible on the entire world. I don’t know how else you can categorize what has happened this year.
What we don’t want to happen in the future is COVID-20, 21, 22, etc., Giving China a pass seems to open the possibility to further malfeasance in the future.
Whether COVID-19 was a mistake, or a deliberate act of war is unknown at this time. We deserve to know. All the people of the world deserve to know.
Then, the next step. There has been plenty of criticism of how this was handled, both here and in other countries. I have heard nothing about plans and preparations to avoid such a debacle in the future. Why is there not a conference or convention studying this matter? What are the defenses from such contagion in the future?
Are we going to wear masks from now on?
It seems like there are certain choke points between countries that can be used to somewhat mitigate future dispersions of such biological contaminants. Namely, these would be customs examination stations. But what else can be done?
This is not over when COVID-19 is over; in fact, future safeguards have not even started yet.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.