Headlines blare that the United States has now surpassed China and every other country in the world in confirmed coronavirus cases. As my American Enterprise Institute colleague Derek Scissors points out, there is absolutely no reason to trust Chinese government statistics, especially as communist authorities in Beijing have repeatedly lied, obfuscated, and have every reason to cover-up the true number of cases they battle.

For any journalist or politician to cite Chinese government figures suggests a credulity that undercuts the entirety of their work.