A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Thailand has confirmed that the United States did not divert a shipment of face masks bound for Germany from an airport in Bangkok, as falsely claimed on Friday by Berlin’s Senator of the Interior, Andreas Geisel. The left-wing German politician had claimed that in an “act of modern piracy,” 200,000 Germany-bound masks had been “confiscated” in Bangkok before being diverted to the United States.
According to Reuters, U.S. embassy spokeswoman for Thailand Jillian Bonnardeaux said that “The United States Government did not take any action to divert any 3M supplies that were destined to Germany nor did we have any knowledge of such a shipment.” Among other products, 3M manufactures N95 face-masks deemed essential personal protective equipment (PPE) for police, medical practitioners, and emergency services in the fight to control the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.