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In China's Capital, 'We're Panicking'
Washington Post ^
| April 18, 2003
| John Pomfret
Posted on 04/18/2003 3:14:19 AM PDT by sarcasm
BEIJING, April 17 -- There were moments today when this city of 13 million people appeared deserted.
At Bank of China branches, there were no lines. The traffic at Western Station, the city's main rail terminal, has dropped 75 percent, to 80,000 passengers a day.
< SNIP >
Vice Premier Wu Yi, who is coordinating the government's response to the epidemic, has warned representatives of the service and travel industries about severe economic losses, sources said. The China International Travel Service has already reported a cancellation rate of 80 percent.
"SARS, for sure, will have an influence on the economy's performance in China," said Yao Jingyuan, an economist at the National Bureau of Statistics. Yao said it was "too early to make any forecasts," but private economists said China's economic growth rate this year would be at least 1 percentage point lower than previously estimated.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: sars
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1
posted on
04/18/2003 3:14:19 AM PDT
by
sarcasm
To: sarcasm
SARS could end up crippling the Communist system. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We know little about what goes on inside the corridors of power in China where the real day to day decisions about the country's future are made.
2
posted on
04/18/2003 3:16:36 AM PDT
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: sarcasm
QUICK!!! Someone send Jocelyn Elders over there!!
To: sarcasm
China's got thir own sniper syndrome.
I remember how the sniper episode crippled the Washington metro area. SARS seems to be affecting the Chinese the same way....don't go out unless you have to, stay away from certain areas, everyone wary of what's "out there"...it ain't fun.
4
posted on
04/18/2003 3:25:08 AM PDT
by
evad
("We'll put a boot in yer ass...it's the American way"..Toby)
To: evad
Wasn't there a movie about it? I think it got pulled last year. I remember seeing the Maryland sniper on the newscasts when I vacationed with my girlfriend in Toronto, Canada.
5
posted on
04/18/2003 3:26:46 AM PDT
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: goldstategop
If they really get worried about it there they'll bring it here in mass to force us to find a solution at the cost of thousands of lives.
At least it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they did such a thing.
6
posted on
04/18/2003 3:28:38 AM PDT
by
DB
(©)
To: DB
With the ChiComs you can never tell.
7
posted on
04/18/2003 3:37:56 AM PDT
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: LiberationIT
QUICK!!! Someone send Jocelyn Elders over there!! Why? Are they having problems masturbating?
8
posted on
04/18/2003 3:42:02 AM PDT
by
The Duke
To: LiberationIT
QUICK!!! Someone send Jocelyn Elders over there!! Well, the esteemed Ms Elders would try to take their minds off SARS by teaching them about intercourse and outercourse.
9
posted on
04/18/2003 3:43:53 AM PDT
by
Ole Okie
To: The Duke
LOL!!! If China had a glut of AIDS cases the Democrats would be rushing to the microphone demanding we help them stop it.
10
posted on
04/18/2003 3:44:47 AM PDT
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: sarcasm
Interesting ... I wonder how it affects Chinese assembly plants ... and will the virus cling and survive on the surface of manufactured goods.
Wal Mart may become a vector for this disease.
11
posted on
04/18/2003 4:02:23 AM PDT
by
Centurion2000
(We are crushing our enemies, seeing him driven before us and hearing the lamentations of the liberal)
To: sarcasm; dinodino; Mother Abigail; CathyRyan; per loin; Dog Gone; Petronski; riri; EternalHope; ...
I wonder if Peking has the same kind of plumbing as Hong Kong.
To: sarcasm
"private economists said China's economic growth rate this year would be at least 1 percentage point lower than previously estimated"No - how about if this continues and the US has no other choice but to refuse ALL shipments from China, your economy will perform at 1% of what it used to, not 1% lower.
Shouldn't be playing with bioweapons, China. "The best laid plans of mice and men...."
13
posted on
04/18/2003 5:29:08 AM PDT
by
11B3
(Happiness IS a warm gun.)
To: sarcasm
I wonder if SARS will actually hit a more technlogically advanced culture harder than some place like China. I mean, they don't have as far to fall as we do. Their economy may be able to handle it better than ours.
Something else that bugs me is Canada's higher death rate. They are almost 20%! Why? I wonder if Canada is the only place giving out "true" numbers of those who have had SARS?
14
posted on
04/18/2003 5:39:38 AM PDT
by
Merdoug
To: 11B3
The chances of many American companies SURVIVING a fall in Chinese imports is just as serious. We are now (very unfortunately) too reliant on the Chinese manufacturing sector to NOT have severe ripple effects through our own economy as a result. This is bad news for the world's economic health...
15
posted on
04/18/2003 6:42:21 AM PDT
by
Amalie
(FREEDOM had NEVER been another word for nothing left to lose...)
To: Amalie
Perhaps "Made in the USA" will rise, as a result.
16
posted on
04/18/2003 6:48:56 AM PDT
by
Judith Anne
(God bless our soldiers with swift victory...)
To: sarcasm
I'm not buying any Chinese products - at all.
I have no idea how long this thing lasts on the surface.
(That, and I'm floating a boycott of Chinese goods because American companies are screwing us).
To: Amalie
Diane Feinstein must be wetting herself.
To: goldstategop
Russia does. How in the hell did that happen? (rhetorical question) They now have more AIDS patients than all of the US!
To: Centurion2000
I know that their manufacturing hotbed is concentrated in one province (Kwae Dong or something like that), and they are being hit hard. People get sick, people not working.
Corning should rethink that move from State College.
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