National Pulse – by Natalie Winters
Pfizer Inc partnered with a Chinese Communist Party payment platform which has been used to implement “vaccine passports” in China since the outbreak of COVID-19. The company said it was “proud to stand with China leaders.”
The pharmaceutical giant – whose U.S. lobbying efforts hit an all-time high in the past year – expressed its pride for the brutal, communist regime in the following tweet from June 6th, 2018:
We are proud to stand with China leaders & @Alipay to introduce new, digital solutions to improve disease education and vaccine access-creating a brighter future for Chinese children. pic.twitter.com/fa6t6LUpiH
— Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) June 6, 2018
“We are proud to stand with China leaders & @Alipay to introduce new, digital solutions to improve disease education and vaccine access-creating a brighter future for Chinese children,” the tweet reads.
“We are honored to be a partner in China’s ‘Internet + Vaccination’ initiative,” reads an accompanying graphic, quoting Pfizer’s China General Manager Wu Kun.
The message also revealed the firm’s partnership with Alipay, a Chinese online payment platform originally founded as an offshoot of the Chinese Communist Party-linked company Alibaba.
Alibaba has also been involved in the “research, production, and repair of weapons and equipment for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)” and has a “deep record of cooperation and collaboration” with China’s “state security bureaucracy,” according to Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation at the U.S. State Department Christopher Ford.
The State Department has also flagged the company as a “tool” of the Chinese Communist Party, aiding in its build-up of “technology-facilitated surveillance and social control.”
Despite these ties, Pfizer partnered with the platform in 2018, as outlined in the company’s annual review:
“We’re using the Alipay platform, which has over 700 million active users in China, to provide much needed education about disease and vaccinations. Additionally, to help China reach its ambitious 2030 goals to reduce infant mortality, we are exploring the use of the platform for mobile payments to improve convenience in Chinese Point of Vaccination centers, as well as options for installment payments that may reduce the financial burden for low income families.”
“After users fill in a form on Alipay with personal details, the software generates a QR code in one of three colors. A green code enables its holder to move about unrestricted. Someone with a yellow code may be asked to stay home for seven days. Red means a two-week quarantine.
In Hangzhou, it has become nearly impossible to get around without showing your Alipay code. Propaganda-style banners remind everyone of the rules: “Green code, travel freely. Red or yellow, report immediately.”
Alibaba was recently penalized by the CCP for failing to adhere to recent laws requiring the company to put the regime’s interests ahead of its duty to report critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities to the world.