A Chinese firm just sold Spain even more defective equipment, to replace the defective equipment the Spanish had just purchased from China. As El Pais reports, the Spanish health ministry is seeking compensation after finding that an order 640,000 coronavirus tests were defective. That new supply was meant to replace previous tests that, after Spain had spent more than $500 million to get them, were also defective.
Spain’s experience here is the norm, not the exception. Among others, Australia, Britain, the Czech Republic, Finland, India, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Turkey have all received dysfunctional tests or medical equipment purchased from China since the start of the worldwide pandemic that China’s regime created.
Indeed, basically any nation that has bought coronavirus-related supplies from China has found all or an inordinate share of those supplies to be totally useless. And note that this isn’t just a failure of contract law — it’s a failure that carries real consequences for the lives of people in need. Had China been willing to put due diligence before lining its own pockets, lives might have been saved and our lockdowns able to be relieved earlier.
But it gets worse, because Spain’s second flawed batch of tests came after China claimed to have introduced much more stringent export controls. What was leaving its shores would now be reliable, Beijing asserted. The only silver lining here is that no one will believe China’s lies again about its exports. Even if Xi Jinping’s regime has bought and paid for the World Health Organization to bolster its propaganda, you can only swindle so many people before you lose credibility.
Meanwhile, China continues to hoard personal protective equipment that actually might work –equipment donated in many cases by other countries that could really use it now. The idea here is to ensure that Xi’s standing at home is not compromised in the event of a future outbreak, and to help Beijing extract concessions from the international community when it comes begging for health-related help.
Fortunately, the world is learning an important if overdue and difficult lesson here. Communist China is not our friend.
