My OpenCdA post dated April 17, 2020, asked, “Would the present US Congress have the courage to propose, debate, and pass a declaration of war against the People’s Republic of China (PRC) pursuant to the US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 if the Wuhan corona virus release is proven to have been accidental but maliciously and fortuitously exploited rather than explicitly created as a biowarfare weapon.
That post included a reference to the presence at the University of Idaho of an international student friendship organization named the Confucius Institute. (Presidential candidate Joe Biden would likely view that as a positive development for Idaho.)
An OpenCdA reader added a comment to that post acknowledging his or her unfamiliarity with the Confucius Institute and its connection to the ChiCom government of the People’s Republic of China. That’s okay. It certainly sounds benign, right? After all, Idaho is not exactly the center of national security interests for our nation. We’ve only got trees, mines (mostly closed), the Idaho National Laboratory, and agriculture.
Nothing in that list could ever be of any interest to the ChiComs, right? Certainly not agriculture. And yet the Confucius Institute also has a chapter at Kansas State University (KSU) in Manhattan, Kansas. (Insert “who cares <yawn>” here.) Just another ag school, right? Seems logical that the ChiComs would be interested in improving their agricultural production capabilities. You may recall that in 2010 Idaho Governor Otter led an Idaho business promotion delegation to the PRC. Yeah. Sell the ChiComs spuds and build a Micron technology plant there.
But the ChiComs’ interest in US agriculture likely goes far deeper than milk, beef, and potato production.
In 2022 and 2023 a biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) lab will open and become fully operational at KSU. That laboratory will the the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). It was begun by President George W. Bush in his Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 signed in 2004. When you read and understand the NBAF Plan, the presence of the Confucius Institute chapter on the KSU campus should become even more concerning.
As if to punctuate the importance of agricultural security and to clarify the relationship between the current COVID-19 pandemic and food security, please read today’s Fox News online piece entitled Trump to invoke Defense Production Act to keep meat-processing plants open amid fears of supply shortage.
The ChiComs are more interested in the security of our food sources than cow farts.