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[0] A new report reveals the extent to which U .S. corporations are partnering with the Chinese Communist Party.
[1] From sharing technology to helping build China's surveillance state, we'll tell you which companies are the most deeply connected to Beijing.
[2] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[3] It's March 26th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
[4] COVID -19 infections are dwindling even as new variants emerge.
[5] And a new study points out, an increased risk of diabetes among COVID survivors.
[6] We have a COVID news roundup with Johns Hopkins, Dr. Marty McCarrie.
[7] And California community colleges have proposed adding diversity, equity, and inclusion competencies to their teacher evaluations.
[8] We'll take a closer look.
[9] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[10] Stay tuned.
[11] We have the news you need to know.
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[16] A new report details the role U .S. corporations played in building China's military and surveillance state.
[17] Here to break down its findings is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
[18] Thanks for joining us, Ben.
[19] Thanks for having me. So how closely intertwined our U .S. corporations and Chinese government agency?
[20] Too closely, and critics say they don't draw appropriate lines where human rights are at stake.
[21] Eight major corporations were covered in the victims of communism Memorial Foundation's first ever corporate complicity scorecard.
[22] Those corporations are Amazon, Apple, Dell, Facebook, GE, Google, Intel, and Microsoft.
[23] Of those eight corporations, half of them got an F, and another two scored a D based on their cooperation with the Chinese government.
[24] All right, so some big names, well, the biggest names, are involved here.
[25] What are some of the offenses the report catalogs?
[26] They basically break down into a few categories.
[27] Some corporations help develop technology that the Chinese Communist Party uses to spy on its population.
[28] For instance, Dell runs an artificial intelligence lab in partnership with the state -run Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation, or Cassia.
[29] That group creates facial recognition technology, biometric monitoring, and voice recognition that enables the CCP surveillance.
[30] In fact, Four companies, Amazon, Dell, GE, and Microsoft, all facilitated China's creation of the so -called smart cities, cities that are run by artificial intelligence where every public space is monitored 24 -7.
[31] Some troubling stuff.
[32] And it's only the tip of the iceberg.
[33] Other U .S. corporations are also involved in producing dual -use technology, which are innovations that have a military application, or they partner with companies that are tied to the Chinese military.
[34] GE, for example, partners with the Harbin Electric Group, a state -owned entity, on the development of turbine technologies.
[35] But Harbin is also part of the Chinese government's military fusion program through a dedicated department that draws on turbine technologies.
[36] That's particularly troubling because GE is also a major partner of the U .S. Defense Department, so there's the potential of technology transfer.
[37] Some are also involved in the persecution of U .S. Muslims.
[38] Dell and GE both maintain offices in China's Xinjiang province, where government officials heard approximately a million Uyghurs into an open -air prison.
[39] In addition to claims of forced labor, there have been credible allegations that China engages in systematic rape and torture.
[40] But nonprofits have identified 11 separate companies in Apple supply chain as potentially linked to that slave labor program.
[41] The report also says that corporations have used their clout to advocate for Chinese causes, some of them in the United States.
[42] For example, Dell supports China's imperialist Belt and Road initiative, but Apple lobbied Congress against certain provisions of the U .Ger forced labor prevention act.
[43] U .S. corporations that do business with China now have a vested interest in opposing any U .S. sanctions that would improve human rights.
[44] Now, Big Tech obviously has a major financial incentive to invest in China.
[45] How does the U .S. government play into this?
[46] Well, the U .S. government actually encouraged this kind of investment for most of the last four decades.
[47] In the late 1990s, there was a bipartisan consensus that global engagement with China would eventually cause the country to adopt democracy, capitalism, and respect human rights.
[48] Instead, the CCP's become more repressive of its Uyghur Muslim, Tibetan Buddhist, and unauthorized Christian communities.
[49] It's monitoring its own population to a degree the average American would find incomprehensible and its saber -rattling against U .S. allies, often with technology that was made by U .S. corporations.
[50] All right, Ben, that's a lot to process.
[51] Thanks for the overview.
[52] Anytime.
[53] That's a Daily Wire reporter, Ben Johnson.
[54] Coming up, a new study shows COVID survivors have a higher risk of developing diabetes.
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[59] The number of COVID cases in the U .S. has dramatically decreased over the last few weeks, even amid reports of a new variant abroad.
[60] Meanwhile, we continue to learn more about the long -term impact of the virus.
[61] Joining us to discuss the latest on COVID is Johns Hopkins, Dr. Marty McCarrie.
[62] Dr. McCarrie, thanks for coming on.
[63] Great to be with you.
[64] Now, it's March of 2022.
[65] What is the state of COVID in the United States right now?
[66] Well, we're at record low levels across the board in terms of case numbers.
[67] We're at 9 for 100 ,000.
[68] And in terms of hospitalizations and ICU utilization, the issue that we're following is that Europe just had a bit of an uptick.
[69] I wouldn't call it a true wave, but it was an increase in cases, not really an increase in hospitalizations or severe illness.
[70] And we've been bracing for that here for about three weeks because Europe has been a pretty reliable preview of what we can expect.
[71] in the United States.
[72] And for some reason, we have not seen this uptick.
[73] It may happen in the next few weeks, or for some reason it may not happen here at all.
[74] Now, what can you tell us about the new sub -variant B -A -2?
[75] How contagious is it?
[76] How sick are people getting?
[77] So it's generally believed that B -A -2, which is sort of the second Omicron variant, also known as the stealth variant by some people, it's about 30 to 50 % more contagious, not more dangerous, but when you have something that's more contagious, you're more likely to pick it up a lot with asymptomatic screening.
[78] That is, testing people who feel fine, you're more likely to detect it.
[79] Now, do you expect that we're going to have another surge?
[80] Is this something that we will have annually?
[81] What should we do to prepare?
[82] I can almost guarantee that we're going to see an increasing cases this fall.
[83] And it's because COVID -19 is going to fall.
[84] fold into the group of respiratory pathogens that goes up every winter, every viral season.
[85] Now, it will probably join the four other coronaviruses that we've learned to accept year to year that cause about 25 % of the cases of the common cold.
[86] Now, can you explain what's happening in South Korea?
[87] They have just now exceeded 10 million COVID cases due to a recent surge in infection and deaths.
[88] What's going on there?
[89] So South Korea never really got hit hard with COVID.
[90] And when you don't get hit hard with a virus, you sort of pen up some vulnerability.
[91] By the way, we're going to see that with influenza.
[92] We've had a couple mild flu seasons.
[93] At some point, we're going to get hit hard.
[94] Well, with COVID, South Korea is now getting hit hard.
[95] One of the mysteries of COVID is how it sort of lingers.
[96] We thought when New York got hit early in the pandemic, that the rest of the country was going to quickly also go.
[97] get hit badly, but it was staggered.
[98] India got hit very late, almost a year and a half later, and out of India came the Delta variant.
[99] So we're seeing it finally cause a real wave in South Korea.
[100] But to put things in context, they're still doing much better than other countries.
[101] Their total death count is 13 ,000 in a country of 51 million.
[102] So yes, their hospitalizations are a bit full right now, but they also just approved Paxlevid, the antiviral therapy, and they're just now sort of gearing up.
[103] Now, tell me about this new study by the St. Louis VA health care system that is seeming to show that COVID -19 survivors are 40 % more likely to develop diabetes.
[104] That sounds really high.
[105] Can you explain that?
[106] Sure, yeah.
[107] So we know that diabetes is in part a mystery when it comes to type 1 diabetes.
[108] And it's been known that viruses may trigger type 1 diabetes.
[109] it may trigger an autoimmune response.
[110] The study out of the VA really looked at type 2 diabetes, which means people were, they already had risk factors.
[111] The risk factors might have included obesity, and that people who had COVID had a 40 % increased likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.
[112] So it's concerning.
[113] Initially, people thought, well, these are veterans at the VA hospital.
[114] They're already at risk of diabetes.
[115] But the study was done with a good control group, and it was clear that type 2 diabetes was more common after the infection in every group.
[116] Young people, healthy people, people older, and people at risk.
[117] All right.
[118] Well, Dr. McCarrie, thank you so much for coming on.
[119] This is great.
[120] Good to be with you.
[121] Thank you, Georgia.
[122] That was Dr. Marty McCarrie from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
[123] California Community Colleges have proposed a new rubric for faculty evaluations that measure competency.
[124] in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
[125] The new evaluations would require college professors to demonstrate an understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles.
[126] They would also have to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to establish anti -racist goals in their professional work.
[127] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Alorty, is here to tell us what's going on.
[128] So, Marade, tell us about this new proposal.
[129] Yeah, so on March 11th, the California Community College's Chancellor's Office issued a formal proposal to embed DEI competencies as part of the evaluation process for employees.
[130] So this would be system -wide in California.
[131] The idea is to make DEI competencies a formal condition for faculty to get promoted or receive tenure or otherwise advance their careers.
[132] I also want to note, this proposal adds an A for accessibility to DEI, so they called it DEIA or DIA.
[133] So it would be mandatory to include DIA as part of teacher evaluation.
[134] which would affect things like employment and tenure.
[135] Yes, and not just teachers, this would apply to administrators and other employees, too.
[136] So what would that look like in practice exactly?
[137] Well, as of now, only the proposal has been released, so we don't have specific rubric items yet.
[138] However, here are some things mentioned in the proposal.
[139] Employees would be required to submit a self -reflection relating to diversity and inclusion.
[140] Employees must also demonstrate their understanding of anti -racist principles and show how they have operationalized those principles in their jobs.
[141] The proposal also says employees would be provided with professional development opportunities for creating, quote, inclusive campus and classroom culture and equitable student outcomes.
[142] It's not clear whether those opportunities would be professional development trainings or personalized plans based on performance.
[143] So these DEI competency criteria would be a baseline for all districts and colleges, but it looks like individual schools will have some flexibility with how they choose to incorporate them into their own local processes.
[144] Presumably, schools would be free to go above and beyond these recommendations as well.
[145] Now, I think some people will hear this, and they'll think this sounds like an ideological litmus test.
[146] Has that concern been addressed?
[147] Well, the plan says employees will have a group of evaluators with a, quote, range of perspectives, but it's unclear how that would be enforced or how wide the range of perspectives would be.
[148] Obviously, it would be very hard to include perspectives that oppose the initiative itself or the equity agenda that it's promoting.
[149] Now, how many students is this going to affect?
[150] So the California Community College's education system is massive.
[151] The system includes 116 community colleges, more than 2 .1 million students, and nearly 58 ,000 academic staff members.
[152] It's the biggest community college system in the country.
[153] But right now, this is only a proposal.
[154] How likely is it that this will go into effect?
[155] Well, back in 2019, California's community college system adopted.
[156] a DEI plan that included a laundry list of ideas for how to incorporate DEI.
[157] One of the ideas was encourage diversity -focused criteria in employee evaluations and tenure review.
[158] So decision makers at the state level already approved a plan that included this as a suggestion.
[159] So this new proposal is kind of just the next logical step to deliver on that promise.
[160] You know, this is the nation's largest community college system, and it's a really big step they're taking.
[161] It's amazing.
[162] This isn't making more headlines.
[163] I agree.
[164] Marade, thanks so much for reporting.
[165] Thanks, Georgia.
[166] That's Daily Wire Investigator reporter, Marade Allorty.
[167] Another story we're tracking this week.
[168] Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a pro -life bill into law this week that bans abortions after about six weeks.
[169] The bill is closely modeled off the Texas heartbeat law.
[170] Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
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