Cheney: Chinese Control of Supply Chain Is National Security Threat
Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) said Chinese control of the pharmaceutical supply chain was a national security threat and that the United States must use its military to confront China around the world.
"Look at what they've been able to do with respect to supply chains," Cheney said Thursday morning on the Hugh Hewitt Show. "That is in and of itself a national security threat: The extent to which they now produce so many of the pharmaceuticals that we need, produce so many of the components that go into pharmaceuticals that are produced in other countries, and the real national security threat that poses."
Cheney said that Chinese cyberattacks on the United States, combined with China's control of pharmaceutical production, have led to a "nightmare scenario" in which the authoritarian regime has access to vital classified information while the United States is unable to produce life-saving medicine on its own.
She added that the United States needs to maintain its military dominance to guard against the Chinese government.
"We have to move that supply chain out of China while we also are combating them from a military perspective around the world and, frankly, in space as well," Cheney said.
China's role in causing the coronavirus pandemic sparked a reevaluation of the country's place in the international community.
Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) introduced a resolution in March condemning the Chinese government's suppression of information about the coronavirus and refusal to cooperate with health authorities.
Other GOP lawmakers, led by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), called for an investigation into China's handling of the crisis.
Photo: CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES
