Pompeo accuses China of spreading COVID misinformation, says CCP 'putting world at risk'

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on December 18 lambasted China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for “still spreading disinformation” regarding the COVID-19 pandemic even after more than a year of the world being rocked by the highly-infectious disease first detected in the Asian nation. 

Further deteriorating US-China relations that are already at an all-time low, Pompeo accused CCP of obstructing the investigation led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to determine origin and spread of the novel coronavirus. According to the US Secretary of State, CCP is also pushing its vaccine candidates without transparency that is further ‘putting the world at risk’ along with the Chinese citizens.

In a press statement, Pompeo said: "Even today, nearly a year after the world first learned of the outbreak, the CCP is still spreading disinformation regarding the virus and obstructing a WHO investigation into its origin and spread.”

“It is also peddling vaccines that lack essential data on safety and efficacy, due to a fundamental disregard for transparency and accountability regarding results from clinical trials. Both actions put Chinese citizens, and the world, at risk,” he added.

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Pompeo urges nations to demand transparency

While accusing CCP of punishing scientists and other medical professionals who flagged the dangers of the novel coronavirus that led ‘controlled outbreak’ to become a pandemic, Pompeo urged all nations to unite against China and demand transparency regarding the origin of COVID-19. The US Secretary of State also said that if the same is not done, the record of public health crisis in China paves the way for another pandemic originating from the nation.

"Time and again, democracies that value transparency, the rule of law, property rights, and free-market capitalism have produced innovative solutions to public health crises. Freedom unleashes human potential, and competition spurs better outcomes, at lower costs. In contrast, authoritarian regimes control information and stifle innovation," he said.

Earlier, Pompeo had said that the challenge from the Chinese Communist Party is the most existential threat to the security and prosperity of the United States. While speaking to Ben Shapiro of The Ben Shapiro Show, he said that the current US President Donald Trump is the first leader of the country to recognise the threat from China and act on it. Pompeo, however, warned that there is still a lot of work to do in countering the threat from CCP. 

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