Featured
U.S. Politicians’ Absurd Act Of Scapegoating China Won’t Change Facts
By Zhong Sheng
In a dark, windy night, a gang of extremely vicious terrorists launched a sudden assault on a village. The household which was attacked first was quickly filled with gunfire and flames, and burst into flames.
As the family struggled to survive, another family in the village not only stood by and let the situation get worse, but made sarcastic remarks on the misfortune, saying that “this family must had irritated the terrorists, and thus incurred the revenge now.”
To its surprise, the family that was brutally assaulted fought back against the attackers desperately and wouldn’t flinch in the face of life-threatening danger.
After battling with the family for a long time, the terrorists got frustrated and realized that they had unwisely started the war by attacking a tough family that won’t yield. Then the Mob decided to shift their focus somewhere else.
Surprisingly, the family that mocked the victims became the new target of the terrorist attack and was caught unprepared.
Serious lack of precautions or prompt response to the attack made the second family completely overwhelmed as the attackers drove straight in its house and wantonly slaughtered its family members, causing massive casualties and tremendous damage to its home.
Shocking as it sounds, at the critical moment when the terrorists were still killing more of its family members, the second family didn’t reflect on its own failure in anticipating the situation and coping with the catastrophe, but started to complain that the first family hadn’t captured and killed the terrorists, and even demanded that the first family compensates it for its losses…
Does this story sound just like what happened on the earth since the COVID-19 outbreak?
Today, the U.S. is still faced with severe epidemic situation. Both its number of confirmed cases and death toll of the disease are the highest in the world. No matter the politicians of the country say, facts are facts.
In an effort to shift the blame for their own faults and incompetence onto China to distract attention of U.S. people, certain U.S. politicians first falsely accused China of covering up information about the outbreak, and then cooked up the rumor that the novel coronavirus was leaked from a Chinese lab.
These groundless allegations against China have all been disproven time and again and refuted by scientists and medical experts from various countries repeatedly.
Recently, U.S. politicians adopted new wording to scapegoat China for the spread of the COVID-19 around the globe, saying that “The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government.”
What kind of logic is that? Just like the story above, the ridiculous attempt of certain U.S. politicians to pass the buck to China for its own faults is unreasonable and highly illogical.
Every country wants to wipe out major infectious disease as soon as it emerges, but no country can guarantee the result, which is normal and logical, let alone a brand new virus as the novel coronavirus.
Mankind knew nothing about such key aspects of the virus as its transmission and pathogenic mechanisms when it first broke out, which made it extremely difficult to be prevented and controlled.
China was the first to report the disease. But there has been no final conclusion on when and where the human-to-human transmission of the virus started.
When confronted with the infectious disease that has spread the fastest, caused the most extensive infections and been the hardest to contain since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, China made the containment of the epidemic the top priority.
With Chinese President Xi Jinping personally taking charge and planning the response to the outbreak, the country has made nationwide efforts to stop the virus from spreading to other parts of the world.
Putting people’s health and safety before everything else while taking the worst-hit Hubei province and its capital Wuhan the country’s main battlefield against the epidemic, China made clear requirements of preventing the coronavirus from spreading within the region or beyond.
The country has taken a series of decisive measures to prevent and control the spread of the disease and treat patients, preliminarily curbed the rapid spread of the disease in over one month, brought its daily number of new confirmed cases at home under ten in about two months, and made significant achievements in the fight against the virus in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan while bringing the epidemic under control across the country in around three months.
As a country with 1.4 billion people, it’s hardly easy for China to bring the outbreak under control in such a short time.
Just like many foreign media and international figures commented, China has made unquestionable achievements in fighting the COVID-19.
China’s efforts to fight the epidemic helped stem further spread of the disease, effectively cut off the transmission chain of the virus, contributing significantly to the global fight against the epidemic.
In fact, since the outbreak of the epidemic, U.S. politicians have praised China for its epidemic prevention and control measures on many occasions, saying things including “I think China is very, you know, professionally run in the sense that they have everything under control,” “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency,” and “Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation.”
On Jan. 23, China closed all outbound channels at airports and railway stations of Wuhan, since when until April 8, there had been no commercial flights departing from or arriving in the city, and no trains left the city.
On Jan. 31, the U.S. government was the first among all foreign countries to announce suspension of direct flights between China and the U.S. operated by three major U.S. airlines. On Feb. 2, the country closed its borders to all Chinese citizens and foreigners who had been to China within the previous 14 days.
It seemed that the U.S. thought it can rest easy as long as China was there to prevent and control the spread of the virus and it cut off air links with China, which has been proven to be wishful thinking.
As facts have shown, the U.S. squandered the nearly two-month time window won by China.
U.S. delay in taking social-distancing measures caused about tens of thousands of people to lose their lives to the epidemic, according to a research team from Columbia University.
Had the U.S. begun imposing social-distancing measures one week earlier in March, 36,000 fewer people would have died in the COVID-19 pandemic, and about 83 percent of the country’s deaths would have been avoided, estimated the research team.
Some U.S. people don’t understand why the disease first broke out in China, but spread all over the world rather than various parts of China.
It’s actually quite easy to explain the reasons to those who really don’t understand, as the whole thing is not that complicated. However, it’s afraid that some people have already known the answer and just asked the question to mislead the public.
China’s nationwide efforts to fight the epidemic actually refer to travel restrictions across the country, efforts to put a megacity and a whole province with more than 60 million people under lockdown, tremendous mobilization and deployment of personnel and materials to help Hubei with its epidemic fight, free treatment for all COVID-19 patients, regardless of the cost, earnest implementation of joint prevention and control mechanism in every community and village, and concerted efforts of 1.4 billion people who have voluntarily worn face masks, washed their hands frequently, and avoided gatherings of people.
Inconceivable as they sound for some American people, these are what have actually happened in China, and also the reasons why the disease didn’t spread in large scale to other provinces of the country and was impossible to spread beyond its borders.
Statistics from several major Canadian provinces have shown that the novel coronavirus spread in Canada was brought to the country by U.S. visitors, according to foreign media.
Australia explained clearly in March that 80 percent of its COVID-19 cases have been either imported from overseas or close contacts of these people, with most of the cases being brought in from the U.S.
A latest research report released by Tel Aviv University (TAU) suggested that about 70 percent of Israeli COVID-19 cases had been infected with a novel coronavirus strain that originated in the U.S.
The French research institute Institut Pasteur found that the virus strain circulating locally in France is of unknown origin.
None of the imported COVID-19 cases in Russia was from China.
Singapore’s COVID-19 cases imported from China were less than one tenth of those from other countries.
According to the Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the novel coronavirus strain confirmed in Japan since early March was not from China.
After researching strains of novel coronavirus found in different patients, research institutes in the U.S. have reached the same conclusion that these strains are highly similar to those of the novel coronavirus found in European visitors.
It’s indisputable that by making all-out efforts to fight the COVID-19, China has not only protected the health and safety of its people, but also contributed to global public health security.
The COVID-19 outbreak has brought about a competition between the virus and sense of responsibility and courage of countries, and also a major test of morality and conscience.
China, while adhering to the principle of putting people’s lives above everything, submitted an “answer sheet” that has been marveled at by people around the world.
Business
Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda
By Joel Ajayi
For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.
That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.
At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”
Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.
Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.
The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.
Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.
Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.
From Dialogue to Industrial Action
ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.
The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.
The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.
The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.
One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.
The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.
Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition
The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.
A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.
Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.
Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.
The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.
The Digital Dimension
Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.
The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.
The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.
Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.
Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs
Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.
The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.
The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.
For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.
From National Production to African Value Chains
The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.
The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.
Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.
This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.
Bridging Research and Capital
A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.
Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.
ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.
The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.
A Larger Industrial Conversation
The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.
The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.
The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.
The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.
Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.
Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.
For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.
ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.
If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.
The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production
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