Free Republic

BEIJING/SHANGHAI - Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump during a phone call on Friday that he would have China’s support in fighting the coronavirus, as the United States faces the prospect of becoming the next global epicentre of the pandemic. Xi’s offer of assistance came amid a long-running war of words between Beijing and Washington over various issues including the coronavirus epidemic. Trump and some U.S. officials have accused China of a lack of transparency on the virus, and Trump has at times called the coronavirus a “China virus” as it originated there, angering Beijing. In the...

Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday announced a new public health order related to grocery stores and pharmacies in Massachusetts, which includes a temporary ban on reusable bags. "From now on, reusable bags are prohibited and all regulations on plastic bag bans are lifted," he said. The order also prohibits stores from charging for paper and plastic bags while the order is in place. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh had previously announced the same measures in the city.

Two Republican lawmakers are urging Twitter to ban Chinese Communist officials from its platform in response to the regime’s aggressive propaganda campaign to “whitewash” its coverup of the outbreak. “While the coronavirus pandemic is afflicting families, governments, and markets around the world, the Chinese Communist Party is waging a massive propaganda campaign to rewrite the history of COVID-19 and whitewash the Party’s lies,” wrote Sen. Ben Sasse (R- Neb.) and Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) in a March 20 letter to Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey.Twitter is censored in China, but dozens of Chinese diplomats, embassies, and consulates are active on the...