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Does Beijing have SARS virus in its arsenal of biochemical weapons?

UPDATE ON EARLIER COVERAGE


Taiwanese politicians attempted to wind up their Chinese counterparts TUESDAY by donning surgical masks and claiming that the SARS epidemic of 2002 was a biological warfare plot by the mainland.

Banners displaying skulls and crossbones crowded the floor of Taiwan's parliament building after the island's security chief, Tsai Chaoming, told a legislative committee that sources inside China suspected SARS had been a weapon.

Mr Tsai, the director-general of the National Security Bureau, added that conclusive evidence had not surfaced, but that the bureau would continue to monitor the situation.

Maybe yes, maybe no, according to press reports in Taiwan.

by Dan Bloom

TAIWAN(RUSHPRNEWS)10/07/2008 -- According to recent news reports surfacing in Taiwan's English-language and Chinese-language media, communist China-- which gave the world tainted dog food, tained toys and tainted milk, not to mention a few "faked" TV moments in the 2008 Olympics -- has now allegedly stockpiled SARS virus specimens as part of its biochemical weapons program. However, the allegation -- a serious one, if true -- has not been verified as this online report goes to screen.

SARS stand for "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome". It can kill, although medical treatment is available for it as well. China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and the parts of the U.S. experienced some deaths from SARS a few years ago as well.

Taiwan's National Security Bureau chief Tsai Chao-ming, in response to a question from a national politician, allegedly told a legislative committee on Monday in Taipei that SARS virus has allegedly become a part of communist China's biochemical warfare program.

"We have information indicating that the SARS virus has become a biochemical warfare formula, and that United Nations experts have the same intelligence as that obtained by Taiwan," he is reported to have said."We suspect that some places in China are involved and we will continue to monitor the situation and developments."

A Taiwanese legislator had asked during the committee meeting if the SARS virus had become a biochemical weapon in mainland China. The allegedly affirmative answer, and the inclusion of UN experts who are allegedly said to have the information as well, immediately became "breaking news" on all of Taiwan's television stations and made frontpage news in the national newspapers as well.

Taiwan is a sovereign island nation about 100 miles off the coast of communist China and is not a part of communist China. The island nation experienced a SARS scare a few years ago when tourists from China and Hong Kong flew in to Taiwan, bringing the virus with them.

But the alleged use of SARS as a biochemical warfare weapon has many Taiwanese on edge, according to media reports.

In related news, Rich Chang, a reporter for the English-language Taipei Times newspaper in Taiwan, reported on Tuesday morning that while "[late] last night the [security] bureau issued a statement denying that Mr. Tsai had said Beijing turned the SARS virus into a [biological] weapon."

Taiwan's national security bureau told the media that Mr. Tsai had been misunderstood, Chang reported.

But the question remains: do experts at the UN have any information that China has allegedly turned the SARS virus into a possible biological weapon to use against its perceived enemies in Asia and overseas?

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