Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

America Will Survive Coronavirus – But Will We Survive China?
Townhall.com ^ | March 19, 2020 | Matt Mowers

Posted on 03/19/2020 9:02:53 AM PDT by Kaslin

With empty shelves at grocery stores and businesses and schools closing, it’s understandable that Americans are worried about what the future holds. As someone who worked alongside the professionals and civil servants who are helping manage this crisis, I hope to offer some small comfort to Americans hunkered down in their homes.

You may have seen an extraordinary woman named Ambassador Deborah Birx front and center at the president’s recent press conferences. I had the privilege to work with her for over two years and travel with her around the world implementing America’s global HIV program called PEPFR.

At President Trump’s Rose Garden press conference on Friday, he and the Coronavirus Response team led by Vice President Pence and Dr. Birx laid out the clear steps they have taken and continue to implement to keep Americans healthy and safe. They also made clear that a plan is in place to ensure that Americans have access to testing capabilities and receive treatment should they test positive for COVID-19.

But as we get through this crisis, I think it’s important to be mindful of a bigger problem on the horizon. America will certainly survive the Coronavirus outbreak, but it is clear now that our nation’s reliance on China hamstrung the early days of our response and lays bare our overall over-dependence on the communist country in all aspects of our lives including pharmaceuticals, food, security and finance.

My point is this: Coronavirus is not the only Chinese import that should give us pause. Imagine a world in which America is at conflict with the communist government of China, and as a retaliatory action, they shut down access to the pharmaceutical drugs, food, and high-tech military products that are produced on their shores.

While we use diplomacy to prevent that scenario from ever occurring, America must be prepared to ensure the safety and health of the American people so that our supply chain is never held at the whims of a competitive government like China. The Coronavirus outbreak has highlighted these challenges, and it’s something I saw every day during my time in the Trump administration. For over two years I had the privilege of serving our nation at the U.S. Department of State. During my time there I served as both Senior White House Advisor and a leader of the Global AIDS Coordinator’s Office, as well as the Global Health Office. It is a job that took me nearly 200,000 miles around the world and gave me a front row seat to see what it takes to control a deadly epidemic.

Here’s some of what I observed: Currently the vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients that provide the underlying formula for common medications are produced in China. This presents an ongoing security threat to our nation and its people. With growing trade tensions with China, as well as the new global power competition between our two countries, we must ensure that America is never reliant on Chinese made materials related to our health and security. If the FDA, for example, were to require that the Chinese meet the more stringent U.S. standards for pharmaceutical ingredients, we could spur an investment in companies right here in America. Through a combination of application of U.S. standards and one-time tax reductions, we can incentivize companies in the agricultural, high tech and pharmaceutical fields to bring more production on American soil. The limits of communist China are on full display for the world to see, but we must ensure that America is never held hostage to their ineptitude.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; coronavirus; dependency

1 posted on 03/19/2020 9:02:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Meh.

I’m likely going fishing today.
It’s pretty outside.


2 posted on 03/19/2020 9:04:51 AM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

This is the perfect time and reason to completely decouple from China, reversing Nixon’s original opening.

And we are blessed enough to have the right President in the White House to make it happen.


3 posted on 03/19/2020 9:04:57 AM PDT by datura
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

...from orbit.


4 posted on 03/19/2020 9:16:35 AM PDT by LIConFem (I will no longer accept the things I cannot change. it's time to change the things I cannot accept)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

China needs to be made gone.


5 posted on 03/19/2020 9:16:43 AM PDT by chris37 (Despite my growing "Coronaphobia", I still feel at least mostly sane half of the time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: datura
This is the perfect time and reason to completely decouple from China, reversing Nixon’s original opening.

We cant completely. They underwrite our profligacy.

6 posted on 03/19/2020 9:20:42 AM PDT by 03A3 (FTNFL)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

“America must be prepared to ensure the safety and health of the American people so that our supply chain is never held at the whims of a competitive government like China”

Gee, Captain Obvious, lots of us have been saying that for years.

But we were shouted down by the Fwee Twade Uber Alles storm troopers led by the Bush Gang.

And I don’t recall Debbie Birx ever making a peep about this in the last 1/2 century or so.


7 posted on 03/19/2020 9:25:33 AM PDT by Regulator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

What crock!


8 posted on 03/19/2020 9:26:29 AM PDT by aquila48 (Do not let them make you care!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 03A3
We cant completely. They underwrite our profligacy.

That's why it can't happen - and it doesn't even need to. The goal is to avoid having critical national security products sourced there. That kind of thing made a lot of money for the Clinton Foundation and their sycophants, but it needs to be undone - fast.

9 posted on 03/19/2020 9:30:37 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL]-[GALT]-[DELETE])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: datura

But we are cursed with the likes of Nancy and Chuck.


10 posted on 03/19/2020 9:34:07 AM PDT by 353FMG ( In Trump we trust.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Heck, will we survive our own weaponized BIG GOV. From debt slaves to quarantined slaves in our own homes waiting for the next demand. Remember the ALAMO! Remember the republic? Really? Masters of the universe? Definitely masters of asymmetric war.


11 posted on 03/19/2020 9:42:36 AM PDT by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin; All

Well, no shit Sherlock. The author is a simpleton.


12 posted on 03/19/2020 9:49:43 AM PDT by Cobra64 (Common sense isnÂ’t common anymore.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Hopefully this will be the silver lining in all this.

The supply chains (not just of the US but of many countries) being repatriated, with a corresponding plummet in the resources available to the ChiCom military.

It’s why they’re out with the BS claim of no new cases.


13 posted on 03/19/2020 9:56:21 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Will America survive the MSM and Democrats? Now that’s the challenge.


14 posted on 03/19/2020 10:03:36 AM PDT by From The Deer Stand
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 03A3

“ We cant completely. They underwrite our profligacy. ”

Wow, are YOU behind the times. China is a debtor nation now, getting close to 400% of their GDP. They had to sell some of their US Debt.

The world is clamoring for our debt at near zero interest rates...which is better than EU negative rates.


15 posted on 03/19/2020 4:55:53 PM PDT by jdsteel (Americans are Dreamers too!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson