CUSEF Blog

China condemns U.S. COVID-19 Origin Act

• Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning accused the U.S. of “politicizing, weaponizing and instrumentalizing COVID origins-tracing” when commenting on the passage of COVID–19 Origin Act of 2023 (S. 619) in the U.S. Senate. She also urged the U.S. to share the data of its early COVID cases with the WHO and disclose information about its bio-labs around the world, including Fort Detrick.

• The Act will still need to pass the House and be signed by the president to become law. If enacted, it would require the U.S. intelligence chief to “declassify all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19.”

Powell signals steeper rate hike

• “The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said when making his semiannual monetary policy report to the U.S. lawmakers on Thursday. The Fed slowed its rate hike to 0.25% in February, bringing the current level of the Fed-fund rates to 4.50-4.75%.

China delivered world’s largest container ship

• On Thursday, China delivered the MSC Tessa, the world's largest container ship, to its owner Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. in Shanghai. The capacity of the vessel is 24,116 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The Evergreen’s Ever Alot, which has a capacity of 24,004 TEUs, is now the second-largest container ship in the world. Both the MSC Tessa and the Ever Alot are built by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). In June 2022, the Ever Alot surpassed the Ever Ace built by Samsung Heavy Industries to become the biggest container vessel.