Coronavirus hysteria is gripping the U.S., and the Chinese Communist Party never misses an opportunity to kick us while we’re down.
The Chinese state media patted itself on the back in an article in its state-run media arm on Thursday. In the piece, Beijing boasted about its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak and criticized the American government’s response. Most notably, the article hinted that China could impose export controls on pharmaceutical exports in order to drown America in “the mighty sea of coronavirus.”
Despite being a global leader in pharmaceutical research, most manufacturing takes place overseas. Some reports indicate that Chinese manufacturing accounts for up to 90% of the U.S. antibiotics supply. In fact, the last U.S. manufacturing plant that produced a key compound of penicillin closed its doors in 2004. If China makes good on its threat to cut off American access, it could be a devastating blow, according to Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
Rubio spoke with Fox News on Thursday and warned Americans that the country is “dangerously reliant” on Chinese pharmaceuticals and other vital goods, including medical supplies that will be critical to the fight against COVID-19. If China turns of the tap, it could send shock-waves throughout U.S. supply chains.
Sen. Cotton Introduces Bill to End US Dependence on Chinese-Manufactured Pharmaceuticals After China Threatens to Cut America's Access to Vital Drugs https://t.co/7FmvJuFqrG via @gatewaypundit
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) March 19, 2020
Meanwhile, coronavirus is officially hitting U.S. shores. President Trump made an Oval Office address on Wednesday in order to outline the U.S. coronavirus response, but it did little to subside the general hysteria that seems to be steadily building momentum. The very next day, the stock market suffered its worst crash in over 30 years, and every major sporting league has announced a halt to their individual seasons. So far, the U.S. has over 1,300 confirmed cases scattered across 44 states and the District of Columbia.
Whether the panic is appropriate is another matter. The coronavirus only results in mild, flu-like symptoms, and only a small segment of the population is at risk of dying from the disease. The vast majority of deaths have occurred in individuals aged 80 years or more. Zero children under 10 years of age have died from the disease, and the mortality rate in individuals under 50 years old is lower than this year’s flu bug. President Trump reminded the public that the virus will have a minimal effect on younger Americans, but the media is stoking the public’s fear and it’s rapidly snowballing into widespread hysteria.
China thinks the world owes them a tremendous debt for containing the virus as long as it did, despite the fact that the CCP hid the outbreak from its own citizens and the rest of the world for weeks before it even began to respond. The Chinese government refused to allow WHO task forces into the country to monitor the outbreak and study the virus. Many experts believe the Chinese government is underreporting the number of cases and deaths in the country as well. However, the CCP is still casting itself as the great champion of the people through its own media arm. An editorial in Xinhua read, “We should say righteously that the U.S. owes China an apology, the world owes China a thank you.”
The Chinese Communist Party isn’t known for its modesty, but even for them, the level of arrogance is extraordinary.
As for the party’s threat to cut-off vital drugs, Rubio thinks its a serious threat. He says China is well aware of the U.S. dependence on its supply chain, and it could easily weaponize it if it sees an opportunity to knock down the U.S. “[If] the U.S. and China have a showdown or something and they can threaten to cut us off from our pharmaceutical supplies, the could trigger a domestic problem here that would make it difficult for us to confront them,” Rubio said, “It’s a tremendous amount of leverage.”
The best thing we can do is to stay calm. Coronavirus itself isn’t the greatest threat to the U.S. The real danger is the widespread hysteria that’s being propagated by the main-stream media. Don’t give in to the panic, keep your head on straight and do the best you can to keep the people around you calm too.
