Billy Long: It's time to hold China accountable

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

I have been sounding the alarm in Washington about China’s quest for world domination for several years which has mostly fallen on deaf ears.

It took a deadly Coronavirus to do it, but finally several of my colleagues now think it’s time we put more than six feet between us and China. 

As we continue to grapple with the health and economic effects from COVID-19, many have called into question the origin of this particular Coronavirus. 

While the U.S.-led investigation about where and how the virus started is ongoing, it is clear is that the Chinese government’s actions following the outbreak were totally unacceptable; it’s time we re-evaluate our relationship and dependence on China. 

The Chinese government’s mismanagement of the virus early on and their deception certainly indicates the devastating impact this virus has had on our nation was either intentional or a result of gross negligence. If Communist China had been proactive and transparent, the deaths of 73,000+ Americans and our economic shutdown could have been avoided.

One of my former colleagues, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, recently stated there is “enormous evidence” the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, and that the Chinese government did all that they could to make sure the world didn’t learn about COVID-19 in a timely fashion. 

Intelligence officials have also said “the Chinese government intentionally concealed the severity of COVID-19 from the international community while it stockpiled medical supplies” like essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

In late December, Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, notified Chinese Health Authorities that a new strand of the Coronavirus was causing illness in nearly 200 people. 

Despite his persistent warnings, China not only denied that the virus could be spread from person to person, but the Chinese government ordered institutions to stop publishing this information and ordered labs to either transfer any samples of the virus to designated testing institutions or destroy them. 

The voices of brave individuals like Dr. Zhang Jixian were repeatedly silenced, and consequently, the virus spread across the globe. China continues to alter and underreport cases, prompting U.S. Intelligence officials to investigate the possibility that an accident at a Wuhan laboratory could have resulted in the release of a virus that’s killed thousands.

Unfortunately, much of our PPE comes from China as do a majority of our generic drugs. China produces 80 percent of the global supply of face masks. 

Recently, the Chinese government has instituted policies that have created a massive backlog of PPEs destined for the U.S., insisting that they cannot ship out 3M’s supply without “instructions from Beijing.” 

This behavior strongly suggests that while China was downplaying the threat of the Coronavirus, they were also nationalizing the manufacturing facilities of multinationals that produce PPE in China to ensure they had a sufficient supply for themselves. 

Are we supposed to believe that China just happened to “accidentally” position themselves to be sitting on a large supply of highly coveted PPE destined for the U.S. and then a pandemic just happened to break out shortly thereafter? That seems just a little too convenient. 

Consider that right here in the 7th District of Missouri Cox Health was forced to pay eight times the normal price for a shipment of masks only to discover when they arrived from China that they were counterfeit and could not be used for their intended purpose.

The Communist Party of China’s efforts to conceal cases of COVID-19 and intentionally withhold information is directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths across the globe. 

The Coronavirus outbreak, coupled with our newly minted distrust of the communist Chinese government, has brought an underlining problem to the forefront: we are far too dependent on China, and House Republicans intend to hold them accountable. 

Members are working together to find ways to eliminate threats in our supply chain, and Congress must continue to enact policies that encourage the domestic production of materials we have traditionally purchased from China. As I knew they would and as I had been warning for years, the Chinese chickens have come home to roost.