Chinese Regime Blames Russia as Source of Recent COVID-19 Surge in China

A resident receives nucleic acid test for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Nanjing, in eastern Jiangsu Province, on July 21, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese communist regime is shifting the blame of the recent COVID-19 surge in China’s Nanjing city to Russia. Meanwhile, a leaked internal official document shows that the regime sees Russia as the biggest source of imported infections.

Since July 20, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, has resurged in Nanjing city of Jiangsu Province, spreading to at least 18 provinces and cities in mainland China. Nanjing Lukou Airport has been identified as the source of this round of outbreaks. From July 20 to the present, Jiangsu Province has reported a total of 642 local confirmed cases. Due to the Chinese regime’s cover-up of the epidemic, the true number of infected cases is unclear.

On July 30, Ding Jie, deputy director of the Nanjing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated at a press conference that the genetic sequence of the early reported cases of the cabin cleaners at the airport was consistent with the sequence of an imported case reported on flight CA910 from Russia on July 10. The cleaners worked on that plane.

Residents queue to receive nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 in Nanjing, in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, on July 21, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Public information shows that the CA910 flight regularly travels from Moscow, Russia, to Nanjing via Air China. It runs every Saturday and the last flight was on July 17. According to Chinese state media, flight CA910 has been temporarily suspended as many as 10 times due to having infected passengers since last year during the pandemic.

The Epoch Times obtained an internal official document of the Chinese regime that shows it sees Russia as the major source for imported COVID-19 infections.

The document is titled “Brief Report (Issue 396) of the Latest Situation of the National Epidemic Situation.” The report is marked as “internal material.”

The content of this briefing summarizes the status of the local epidemic and the imported cases including statistical tables.

Russian police officers patrol on the deserted Red square in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow as the city and its surrounding regions imposed lockdowns today, that were being followed by other Russian regions in a bid to slow the spread of the COVID-19 infection caused by the novel coronavirus, in Moscow, Russia, on March 30, 2020. Dimitar Dilkoff /AFP via Getty Images

According to the “Overseas Epidemic Import Statistics Table” in the document, the top five countries that are listed as sources of China’s imported COVID-19 cases are Russia (950), the United States (475), the United Kingdom (424), the Philippines (335), and the UAE (176). The Chinese regime regards Russia as the largest source of China’s imported cases, which is twice that of the United States.

U.S.-based current affairs commentator Li Linyi believes that based on the Nanjing authorities’ accusations against Russia and the CCP State Council’s internal document, it seems that the unified official rhetoric of the regime is to blame foreign countries for being the source of COVID-19 outbreaks in China. Otherwise, it will appear that the CCP officials are not efficient in fighting the epidemic, and it will be difficult for them to keep their official posts. Li told The Epoch Times: “In fact, the local COVID-19 infections in mainland China have never stopped, it’s just that the CCP has been covering it up. When it’s out of control and exposed to the public, the authorities then shift the blame to other countries.”

Gu Qing’er contributed to this report.