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'This isn't a Trump thing': GOP ramps up pressure on China following worldwide coronavirus outbreak

The Washington Examiner
04/09/2020

A growing number of Republicans are intensifying their scrutiny of China amid the coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump has been a vocal critic of the Chinese government's early handling of the virus, which is believed to have originated at a wet market in the city of Wuhan late last year.

When the outbreak began, the Chinese government reportedly silenced whistleblowers who warned that the virus could spread easily and cause a pandemic resulting in a massive loss of life.

Those predictions have come to fruition in recent weeks, as nearly half a million people in the United States have been infected with COVID-19 as the nationwide death toll creeps closer to 15,000.

While hospitals across the country scramble to deal with an influx of coronavirus patients, some of whom are critically ill, Trump has enacted the Defense Production Act to unclog the supply chain of medical resources from the federal government to localities that need help caring for the sick.

Peter Navarro, the top trade adviser to Trump, this week warned the U.S. must shift supply chain reliance away from other nations, including China.

"One of the things that this crisis has taught us, sir, is that we are dangerously overdependent on a global supply chain," Navarro said. "Never again should we rely on the rest of the world for our essential medicines and countermeasures."

Rep. French Hill, a Republican, last week introduced a bill dovetailing with the DPA that would diversify America’s medical supply chain, with the intention of making the country less dependent on foreign manufacturers, such as China.

"America has been caught unprepared," Hill told the Washington Examiner. "It's not a Trump thing. It's a federal government thing."

Hill argued a stronger supply chain based in America is a matter of national security.

"We could have improved our level of communication with our governors and with the process," Hill said. "We would have been better coordinating large purchases through (the Department of Defense) or FEMA."

Some governors have reported being priced out of the market when attempting to buy critical medical supplies in America.

In January, executives at large U.S. companies such as 3M and Honeywell told federal authorities China was not allowing exports of face masks and shields, gloves, and other personal protective equipment.

"This [pandemic] will fundamentally change global relations with China," Hill said. "China has become a rival to U.S. interests rather than a global economic player."

Trump this week called for a halt on funding to the World Health Organization, which critics say is too sympathetic to the agenda of the Chinese government.

“We’re going to put a hold on money sent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re going to see,” Trump said Tuesday. “They called it wrong. They call it wrong. They really, they missed the call.”

Nikki Haley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina and the ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, agreed.

"If anything, we deserve to hold them accountable," Haley said, regarding China's reporting of the coronavirus outbreak.

Members of Congress's upper chamber have also sounded the alarm on malfeasance on China's part regarding global health and undue influence on international coalitions.

"I’ve never trusted a communist. And their cover-up of this virus that originated with them has caused unnecessary deaths around America and around the world," said Republican Sen. Martha McSally. "The WHO needs to stop covering for them. I think [WHO Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom] needs to step down. We need to take some action to address this issue. It's just irresponsible. It’s unconscionable what they have done here while we have people dying across the globe."

Sen. Lindsey Graham said, "If it were up to me, the whole world should send China the bill for the pandemic."

Perhaps no member of Congress has been a more outspoken critic of China than Sen. Josh Hawley, who last week called for an international investigation into China over its handling of the virus.

"Since day one, the Chinese Communist Party intentionally lied to the world about the origin of this pandemic," Hawley said. "The CCP must be held to account for what the world is now suffering."