Mike Pompeo: The United States Will Make Sure Other Countries Know That The Coronavirus Originated In China | World News



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WASHINGTON: The United States is working with other countries to make sure they understand that the coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo told The Ben Shapiro Show in an interview on Friday that China knew about the virus in December 2019.
“We need to hold the parties responsible for the deaths here in the United States and the enormous economic costs that have been imposed on the United States,” he said.
Pompeo said that the entire world economic system has been decimated.
“Diplomatically, we are reaching out to countries around the world to help them do the right thing, to help their economies start working again, to make sure that when the time is right we can drive international travel so that global trade can resume, he said.
“If you recover the demand, that will be very important for the workers here in the United States of America,” he said.
“We are also working with those countries to make sure they understand that it was indeed a virus that originated in Wuhan, China, that the Chinese government certainly knew about this in December 2019,” he said.
“… and that they (China) did not fulfill their most fundamental obligations as a nation and, more importantly, they did not comply with the international health regulations of the World Health Organization and then they did many things, and we you can talk about them a lot, to cover that up, “Pompeo added.
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Those are the things the United States needs to address, he said.
Pompeo alleged that the World Health Organization failed in its mission to protect the world from the pandemic.
“We are not going to allow that to happen again, and we are going to establish something, a system that offers an outcome that reduces the risk that something like this could happen again, from China or from anywhere else.” he said.
In response to a question, Pompeo said that even the world’s largest companies can now see the political risk associated with operating in China.
“When the Chinese Communist Party refuses to respect the basic rules of transparency, the basic set of functions that preserve human rights and the things that must happen just to make sure that the world does not end in crisis like … I think that by according to their own economic interest, they will make very different decisions in the future. I think it is entirely appropriate for them to evaluate that, “he said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with NPR, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said, “The burden falls on the Chinese to explain where the virus came from. But there is a laboratory in Wuhan that deals with this type of virus. And we need to know if there was any kind of release. Accidental, maybe. ”
“We don’t know where the virus came from. Maybe it came from a wet market in Wuhan. Maybe it came from one of the two virology labs in Wuhan,” said O’Brien.
In a statement, Congressman Jeff Van Drew called on the Chinese government for its role in the “death, destruction and abandonment” of human decency in its behavior on handling the coronavirus outbreak.
“All Americans of all backgrounds and creeds should be furious with China for its disregard for human well-being amid the Coronavirus cover-up in which they have participated,” he said.
“If we had known this before, or if the Chinese government had been honest, we would not be in the position we are in today,” he said.
“We have relied on China for too long to provide cheap labor and goods at the expense of the United States and our workers. We must bring that supply chain home and end the export gap we have; it is time to hold China accountable. for his actions, “Drew said.
Congressman Michael Waltz introduced legislation in the House of Representatives on Friday that would prohibit members of the United States military and federal employees from funding the Chinese People’s Liberation Army through its federal retirement plans.
“It is absolutely insane that our federal and military employees indirectly contribute to China’s military operations, and what’s worse is that almost all of these people are completely unaware of this situation,” Waltz said.
Congressman Waltz’s bill would ban the Federal Retirement Savings Investment Board (FRTIB), the five appointed by President Barack Obama, from directing retirement contributions from federal and military employees to China.
Every month, a combined total of 5.6 million members of the US military. USA And federal employees contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a 401K-style plan taken out of their paychecks.
The TSP, managed by FRTIB, is responsible for more than $ 700 billion in assets, making it one of the largest retirement funds in the world.

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