Demanding Answers on China and COVID-19

Pointing out that “[t]he world needs to know the details behind the spread of this deadly virus so everyone understands exactly how this was started,” the National Center for Public Policy Research joined dozens of conservative groups in signing a letter that asked President Donald Trump to launch a formal investigation to uncover and fully document the origins and responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic that has thrown the planet into crisis.

The letter, signed by National Center General Counsel Justin Danhof, Esq., specifically cited efforts by the Chinese government to “blame the United States for the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus.” It added that “the media are creating panic and blaming your administration” for the spread of the virus.

The letter further stated:

China’s outright and extreme politicization of this horrible disease is outrageous, unacceptable, and dangerous. That politicization has already spread panic across the world. The Chinese-led hysteria has roiled markets, and disrupted everyday life for millions of Americans and citizens of other countries around the world.

In addition to the National Center and the Media Research Center – which led the effort – other conservative groups represented on the letter included FreedomWorks, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Council for National Policy and Young America’s Foundation.

To follow is the full letter sent to President Trump:

Dear Mr. President,

We represent virtually the entirety of the conservative movement but we believe we speak for hundreds of millions in the country and around the world when we ask you to officially investigate the deadly Coronavirus. The world needs to know the details behind the spread of this deadly virus so everyone understands exactly how this was started. The world deserves to know who was responsible so future pandemics of this nature can be prevented.

As we are sure you are aware, the Chinese government has done everything in its power to blame the United States for the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian placed the responsibility on the United States: “When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!”

A few days later, Lin Songtian, China’s ambassador to South Africa, said: “Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone ‘made in China.’”

These statements are astonishing – but predictable… It’s impossible for us to know the true origin of this virus in China because China has refused to share information. As Senator Tom Cotton has correctly pointed out, there are several possible scenarios about the origin of the Wuhan Coronavirus. We do know that Chinese secrecy and lies have made the crisis far worse.

China’s outright and extreme politicization of this horrible disease is outrageous, unacceptable, and dangerous. That politicization has already spread panic across the world. The Chinese-led hysteria has roiled markets, and disrupted everyday life for millions of Americans and citizens of other countries around the world.

As your National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien rightly pointed out, “Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up,’ ‘There’s lots of open-source reporting from China, from Chinese nationals, that the doctors involved were either silenced or put in isolation, or that sort of thing, so that the word of this virus could not get out. It probably cost the world community two months.’”

And consider the well-known case of Dr. Li Wenliang, the young Chinese doctor who bravely shared his concerns on December 31, 2019, with a group of colleagues about an unidentified virus with SARS-like symptoms that his patients were exhibiting. As a result of his due diligence, Chinese authorities accused him of spreading “false information” and that he had “gravely disturbed [the] social order.”

None of this is being reported as it ought to be in American media. Instead, the media are creating panic and blaming your administration. All of this could have been prevented if the Chinese government had merely exercised its responsibility in containing this disease and sharing more information sooner.

We therefore respectfully request you consider launching a more formal investigation to uncover the truth. The first step in making sure this never happens again is finding out what happened in the first place.

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