50,000 dead in US, Trump govt plans global campaign to hold China guilty for Covid

United States is working with or countries to make sure y understand that coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said. Stressing that burden is on Beijing to explain where virus came from, Pompeo told Ben Shapiro Show in an interview on Friday that China knew about virus by December, 2019.

“We need to hold accountable parties responsible for deaths here in United States and ermous ecomic costs that have been posed on US,” he said.

Pompeo said that entire global ecomic system has been decimated.

"Diplomatically, we're reaching out to countries all across world to help m do right thing, to help ir ecomies get started back up, to make sure that when time is right we can get international travel kicked back up so that global commerce can recommence, he said.

“If you get demand back up, that will matter an awful lot to workers right here in United States of America,” he said.

“We are also working with those countries to make sure y understand that this was in fact a virus that originated in Wuhan, China, that Chinese government knew about this certainly by December of 2019," he said.

"... and that y (China) failed to comply with ir most fundamental obligations as a nation, and importantly, too, failed to comply with international health regulations of World Health Organization and n did a lot of things – and we can talk about m at great length – to cover that up,” Pompeo added.

Those are kinds of things that US needs to address, he said. Pompeo alleged that World Health Organization failed in its mission to protect world from pandemic. “We’re t going to let that happen again, and we’re going to set up something, a system, which delivers an outcome which reduces risk that anything like this can ever happen again, from China or from anyplace else,” he said.

Responding to a question, Pompeo said that even world’s largest businesses w can see political risk associated with operating in China.

“When Chinese Communist Party refuses to uphold basic rms of transparency, basic set of functions that preserve human rights, and things that need to happen just to make sure globe doesn’t end up in crises like – I think out of ir own ecomic interest y’re going to make very different decisions going forward. I think that’s completely appropriate for m to evaluate that,” he said.

Meanwhile in an interview to NPR, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said that “burden is on Chinese to explain where virus came from. But re is a lab in Wuhan that deals with this sort of virus. And we need to kw if re was some sort of release. Accidental, perhaps."

"We don't kw where virus came from. Maybe it came from a wet market in Wuhan. Maybe it came from one of two virology labs in Wuhan,” O’Brien said.

In a statement, Congressman Jeff Van Drew called out China’s government for ir role in "death, destruction and dereliction" of human decency in ir behaviour over handling of coronavirus outbreak.

“Every American of every background and creed should be furious with China for ir disregard of human well-being amidst Coronavirus cover-up y have participated in," he said.

"Had we kwn sooner, or had Chinese government been honest, we would t be in position we are today,” he said.

“We have relied on China for far too long to provide cheap labour and goods at expense of America and our workers. We must bring that supply-chain home and end export gap we have; It's time to hold China accountable for ir actions,” Drew said.

Congressman Michael Waltz on Friday introduced a legislation in House of Representatives that would ban members of US military and federal employees from funding China’s People’s Liberation Army through ir federal retirement plans.

“It is absolutely crazy for our military and federal employees to be indirectly contributing to China’s military operations – and what’s worse is that nearly all of se people are completely unaware of this situation,” Waltz said.

Congressman Waltz’s bill would ban Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) – all five of whom were appointed by President Barack Obama – from steering military and federal employees’ retirement contributions to China. Every month, a combined 5.6 million US military members and federal employees contribute to Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a 401K-style plan taken out of ir paychecks. TSP, which is administered by FRTIB, is responsible for over USD700 billion in assets, making it one of world’s largest retirement funds.