Victor Davis Hanson: China will pay the price for COVID-19
Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow Hoover Institution, says China has ruined their 'international brand' and the worldwide opinion about China has changed due to coronavirus
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Hoover Institution Fellow Victor Davis Hanson said on Wednesday that China’s handling of the coronavirus “ruined their international brand,” having potential serious repercussions on its economy as foreign companies may exit.
“[China] knew that that virus was not only epidemic but infectious and could be deadly to older people. They didn’t tell anybody. They didn’t tell us. In fact, they did something far worse -- they accused us of causing it and then they threatened to cut off supplies of medical needs and pharmaceuticals,” Hanson told “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” noting the thousands of Chinese tourists coming into the U.S.
Hanson said that China’s actions will lead to “key industries” moving out of the country.
"You think if you’re Italy or Switzerland or Germany or Australia, you really want to have your antibiotics produced in China when this is all over? If you’re a tourist and you went to China and somebody said there’s a virus contained but don’t worry, it’s contained --would you believe that?”
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Hanson said that there is going to be a widespread shift in public opinion about China.
“Anybody in their right mind would know that the existential threat is China.”
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Hanson's comments came after China, on Tuesday, escalated its tit-for-tat propaganda war with the United States over who's to blame for the spread of the coronavirus by placing restrictive measures on several top media companies, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, prompting strong opposition from the Trump administration.
It's just the latest move by Beijing to punish the U.S. for its reporting on the global pandemic, the origin of which has been traced back to Wuhan, China.
In a statement, China claimed the new restrictions on U.S. reporters were a retaliation against the Trump administration for putting caps on the number of journalists from five Chinese state-run media outlets working in the United States last month.
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To date, the coronavirus pandemic has infected over 200,000 people worldwide and killed over 8,000. In the United States, there have been just under 6,500 confirmed cases recorded with over 110 deaths reported.
Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.
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