Representative Gary Palmer (R-AL), the House Republican Policy Committee chairman, unloaded on China for its behavior domestic and abroad, which included an unwillingness to allow the United States to get a handle on the COVID-19 virus before the onset of the pandemic.
Palmer said mainland China was more than an adversary but an enemy and labeled it as a country built on deceit.
“I think China needs to be held accountable, not just for this but other things they’re doing,” Palmer said. “China is an enemy. They’re not an adversary. The Chinese understand, but we don’t. I’m very concerned about what China is doing in South America — the advances that they’ve made. We were too tied to China in terms of investments. Our international corporations are tied to China. Our universities are tied to China. They’re stealing technology from us. They’re spying on us. They’re committing human rights violations. I think most of your listeners are aware of what’s going on in the western province of China with the Uyghurs, what they’re doing to Hong Kong. I think they’re a major threat to Taiwan.”
“I’m convinced this virus — I think it came out of a lab. I think it came out as early as October, and they covered it up until a couple of Chinese virologists broke the news to the world. And the guy who broke this story was confined to his home, and he died at home. China is a culture that is built on deceit. Everyone that is listening to your program needs to understand that, and that goes back thousands of years. Their culture is a culture of deceit, and there is zero reason to believe that they were forthcoming about any of this. I know because I was at lunch with President Trump on January 24, sitting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, and he had been trying to get Xi Jinping to let U.S. medical researchers into China to get a handle on this virus and try to get ahead of it. And Xi would not allow it.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor