China’s Communist dictatorship mismanaged the outbreak of the coronavirus and tried to cover it up, lying to the United States and the rest of the world. Indeed, the Chinese government is largely responsible for a local outbreak in the city of Wuhan becoming the global pandemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans and puts tens of millions more out of work.
But we still don’t know the exact origins of the virus — did it come from a Chinese wet market or a laboratory? We also need to figure out what responsibility China should bear for the devastation the pandemic has caused and how to hold Beijing accountable.
To examine these and other questions, I am devoting a three-part series on my podcast “Newt’s World” to looking at China and the spread of the coronavirus. On this week’s episode, I discuss the origins of the virus and the timeline of the pandemic’s spread from Wuhan to other areas of the world. And I also ask a critical question: What did the Chinese Communist Party know about the disease, and when did China’s leaders know it?
There are a number of steps that Washington can take to hold China accountable, from sanctions to supporting lawsuits against the Chinese government. My guest this week, Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, offers several ideas for how to punish China. She also offers her expertise on the Chinese government’s actions regarding the coronavirus and what all of this means for the broader US-China relationship.
I hope you will listen to this week’s episode as we in the US continue to fight the coronavirus and navigate a contentious relationship with China. And please look out for the next parts in my series on China and the coronavirus. The Communist Party behaved horribly, and the world needs to know the details. | 
