Home » World » COVID-19 – Countries Unleash a Merciless War Over Face Masks

COVID-19 – Countries Unleash a Merciless War Over Face Masks

Americans who buy a shipment of facemasks about to take off to France on the runway of an airport in China, French or Czechs who confiscate masks destined for Spain or Italy. The race to get masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is ruthless.

Without the capabilities of providing face masks in sufficient numbers, many Western countries seek to buy millions of face masks, primarily in Asia, a situation that has led many to ignore the normal time rules and fair play of exchanges. worldwide.

According to French officials, an entire shipment of facemasks that was about to take off for France was purchased in cash and at a higher price by American buyers, on the tarmac of an airport in China, recently.

“The Americans took a shipment from us,” said Valérie Pécresse, the president of the Paris region, the most populous in France. The government denied the allegations on Thursday, but the buyers could be private officials or federal states. The French government, for its part, said it had “no clarification” on this.

Terrifying ”

The phenomenon is worldwide. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday asked his country’s officials to investigate similar claims that masks were being diverted from his country.

“The supply markets for coronavirus are collapsing,” Professor Christopher R. Yukins of the University of Washington said in a videoconference Thursday. “There is an extreme tension with respect to these merchandise facing the immediate needs of the States,” explained Bolloré Logistics, a large French logistics company, present in China.

“The states are in competition with each other to access resources,” explained researcher Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier of the Franco-Belgian institute Thomas More. “It is unpleasant, but it does not mean an outbreak of hostilities,” he estimated.

Ukrainian MP Andrii Motovylovet, who traveled to China in March to accompany a medical shipment, told Facebook that he witnessed a “terrifying competition for medical equipment.”

“Our consuls who go to the Chinese factories met colleagues from other countries who wanted to take away our orders. We pay for our orders in advance by bank transfer and we have signed contracts. But they had more cash. Each shipment is a fight. “

In China, few manufacturers have permits to export. Those who do not have to go through commercial companies if they want to export. Hence the existence of many intermediaries. In this ruthless fight, some countries have deployed their secret services. According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, the Israeli Mosad carried out a clandestine operation in March to obtain virus detection kits in an unidentified country.

VOLTAGES
Allies.

There are also tensions between allied countries, members of the European Union. According to the French magazine l’Express, on March 5, France seized mouthpieces from the Swedish company Mölnlycke on its territory, which were destined for Spain and Italy, the two European countries most affected by the coronavirus.

– .

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.