Democracies must make China pay for its recklessness: Report

A report co-authored by Hudson Institute Senior Vice President Lewis Libby and former US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo notes that several bits of evidence have come to the fore which show that Beijing failed to inform the world about the Coronavirus from late 2019 to early 2020.

Asianet Newsable English

New York, First Published Jun 8, 2021, 11:45 AM IST | Last Updated Jun 8, 2021, 11:45 AM IST

On May 26, United States President Joe Biden directed the US Intelligence Community 90 days to work with scientists and submit the report on the origins of Covid-19 in China. Though he confirmed that the true source of the virus might never be unearthed, yet the US President sought to know whether the virus spread from animals or the laboratory.

Joe Biden has an opportunity to give a fair and effective international response to the present debate on the origins of the virus. Now, as per a report by the Hudson Institute, the United States has a bill of particulars against the Chinese Communist Party.

According to the report co-authored by Hudson Institute Senior Vice President Lewis Libby and former US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo, several bits of evidence have come to the fore, which show that Beijing failed to inform the world about the Coronavirus from late 2019 to early 2020.

In fact, China was actively trying to cover up information against the disease, thus further accelerating the damage. They stopped all domestic travels as a measure to contain the virus. However, China imposed no such restrictions on international travel, and many travellers were allowed to visit the infected zones, thus allowing the virus to spread.

From unsanitary wet markets to the selling of live animals to the dubious intentions of the Institute of Virology in Wuhan, all facts point towards the fact that the Covid virus was the result of reckless Chinese behaviour.

It is important to note that when Australia requested an independent inquiry on the origins of the pandemic, they were met with trade sanctions from China.

The report notes that Biden now needs to push for a coalition of many democracies to support him in his fight to find out the origins of the pandemic and the role China played in this regard.

The United States has the significant economic power to be able to put curbs on China to make it cooperate with the investigation and put checks on its activities. If China is proved to be at fault, it should be sanctioned and made to pay heavy fines for the damages it has caused.

For the US to win this fight, it would need the support of democracies. The best way to put China in its place if proven guilty is through economic sanctions by rejecting the preferential treatment meted out to China as the manufacturing hub.

Of course, any sanction on China will need a severe restructuring of the supply chains. Strong action from the democracies could hold China accountable for its actions which left millions dead.

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