Army combat vet Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) is taking the lead on Capitol Hill in calling for not only a reassessment of our relationship with China, but for possible penalties agains the Chinese for their duplicity and spin regarding almost every aspect of the coronavirus.
The Chinese waited for months before informing the World Health Organization (WHO) or anyone else of the coronavirus. When they finally did, they said it could not be transmitted to humans.
Then they tried to blame it on the U.S. Army. Now they are suspected of vastly under-counting their fatalities to soften the damage to their economic prestige and international reputation. There are evolving reports about scores of new coronavirus patients and a rampant death toll in Wuhan of ten thousand per month.
That data is not completely reliable —no number currently available is— because the Chinese refuse to let international health professionals, men and women far superior in medical knowledge to their healthcare workers, into the country to inspect the situation. Why? Out of pride and because the Chinese suspect any U.S.-led team who would come to survey the scene would be filled with intel operatives, not just health workers.
Okay, give them that one. So fine, let some Euro nation send their people. No? Then send the Fijians, the Uzbeks, the Federal Cayman Medical Corps and Investment Bank, whoever. Just give the world realistic numbers.
Possible U.S. sanctions and moves against China include legislating that all essential drug and medical supplies are made in America (already in the works), a strengthening of our relationship with Taiwan, beefing up the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet, higher tariffs on Chinese goods, more U.S. Navy patrols in the disputed Spratly Islands, the closing down of certain Chinese consulates in the U.S., expulsion of Chinese diplomatic personnel thought to be intel officers, and a temporary recall of the U.S. ambassador in Beijing.
This and more could await the Chinese if they do not mend their ways. Their reaction? Likely not pretty.
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