Secretary of State Tony Blinken was hesitant to say whether the Biden administration plans to take steps to hold China accountable for what he once called a lack of transparency over how the country handled the pandemic early on.
Blinken, who previously said China’s alleged hiding of the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan was a “profound problem,” was pushed on Sunday by CNN’s Dana Bash on whether he believes Beijing should be punished.
Blinken did not give a direct answer and instead said U.S. officials should work to prevent future pandemics and strengthen its relationship with the World Health Organization.
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“A big part is making sure we have a system in place, including with the World Health Organization that features transparency, that features information sharing, that features access for international experts at the start of something like this,” Blinken said on State of the Union. “And that’s where I think China, like every other country, has real obligations. … So, I think what we need to be focused on is making sure we’re protecting ourselves and protecting the world going forward, and that’s going to require a lot of reform. It’s going to require China to do things that it hasn’t done in the past.”
Bash went on to say that it sounded like Blinken was declining on putting repercussions on China, to which he said he wants to wait and see what comes out of a looming WHO report about the origins of the coronavirus, which has now infected more than 127 million people worldwide.
“We do need to have accountability for the past, but I think our focus needs to be on building a stronger system for the future,” the secretary said.
Blinken’s comments show a different approach than his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, who openly talked about the need to hold China accountable over the pandemic, urging other countries to follow the lead of the United States to put pressure on Beijing.
Pompeo directly put China at fault over the pandemic, alleging the country was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of lives.
“President @realDonaldTrump is committed to making sure that we hold China accountable for this virus now destroying hundreds of thousands of lives all across the world and billions of dollars in wealth. We will hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for that,” Pompeo tweeted last September.
In another step against China, the Trump administration also put more restrictions on Chinese diplomats entering the U.S., requiring them to receive approval to visit university campuses or meet with government officials.
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President Biden previously vowed that his administration would hold a more diplomatic approach toward its global counterparts, as the U.S. remains in tense relations with China.
