The Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, released a new report on Monday, July 8th, revealing that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused over $18 trillion in economic losses for the United States. The report suggests that the U.S. government should take action against Beijing’s negligence and lack of transparency, holding the Chinese authorities legally accountable.
According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic is considered as one of the “seven deadliest epidemics in world history,” bringing immense losses in terms of lives and economies globally, impacting multiple generations to come.
After the outbreak, 28 million lives were lost, dreams shattered, and vulnerable groups plunged into poverty. In 2020 alone, global GDP declined by 3.4%, resulting in an equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs lost due to reduced working hours. The disaster had a significant impact on children, with over 1.5 billion children out of school at the peak of the pandemic in 2020.
The pandemic also affected people’s mental health, with a 27.6% increase in severe depression and a 25.6% increase in anxiety among young and elderly individuals worldwide.
In the U.S., the pandemic brought a range of damages to the population, including death, income loss, chronic health issues, mental health problems, and educational setbacks. Researchers estimate that by the end of 2023, the total value of these losses exceeded $18 trillion, equivalent to about 13% of the country’s total wealth.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought staggering losses to the United States, both in terms of lives and economy,” the report stated. The estimated $18.007 trillion loss bluntly reminds us of the profound impact this global health crisis has had on the country.
The report highlights that the Chinese authorities have been actively and aggressively opposing honesty, transparency, and accountability regarding the virus and its transmission, leading to significant and unnecessary risks faced by China, the U.S., and the world, resulting in this disaster.
Evidence indicates that Chinese officials knew about human-to-human transmission of the new virus as early as December 2019. When healthcare workers, journalists, and other Chinese citizens attempted to warn about the severity of the virus, the Chinese government suppressed their voices and even imprisoned them.
The Chinese government hid crucial information from the World Health Organization (WHO), including the virus type behind the disease, the actual number of infected individuals, and confirmed human-to-human transmission, until it was widely known globally that they had lost control of the epidemic.
Chinese authorities also ordered the destruction of evidence in laboratories and imposed gag orders on researchers and scientists, prohibiting them from sharing information about the virus. It was not until January 11, 2020, that a Chinese scientist defied official orders and published the genome sequence online, allowing others to access the sequence. This delay hindered other countries from immediately initiating the development of tests, drugs, and vaccines.
Chinese officials allowed international flights to continue departing from Wuhan and other cities in China, facilitating the global spread of the virus. After the outbreak globally, China further obstructed international investigations into the origin of the epidemic.
“Compared to other factors, the actions of the Chinese government are the most direct root cause of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.
As one scholar pointed out, “The characteristics of the Chinese (Communist) political system focus on maintaining stability and swiftly suppressing unwanted opinions and signals, making it unsuitable for handling a pandemic that requires public involvement from the beginning.”
The report was authored by the “Nonpartisan Commission on China and COVID-19,” composed of experts from the Heritage Foundation. The Commission’s chairman is former U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
Members include several senior officials from the Trump administration, such as former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien, former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger, and former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield. Jamie Metzl, a former White House official from the Clinton administration, is also a member of the Commission.
The report suggests that the Chinese authorities and related entities should compensate for the harm caused to the United States and its people by the pandemic, providing multiple recommendations to the U.S. Congress and White House. On the congressional front, the report calls for the establishment of a bipartisan COVID-19 commission, including members from both parties, to review the negligence and cover-up by China in response to the pandemic. The commission should also assess the measures taken by the U.S. government after the epidemic reached its shores.
“We strongly encourage other countries to establish their own committees to conduct similar reviews to hold China (Communist) accountable,” the report stated.
The report also recommends that Congress establish a bipartisan working group to handle claims against China and seek to expand the judicial jurisdiction of U.S. federal courts to hold individuals or entities from China accountable through civil litigation.
Compensation could be made by deducting from interests or debts owed to China or withholding from foreign aid to China, providing compensation to civilians harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the major obstacles to suing China is the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which states that foreign governments are generally not subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. federal or state courts, except in certain situations.
Hence, the report proposes that Congress remove the immunity of foreign governments in certain circumstances, such as in the case of a global pandemic causing over a million deaths of U.S. citizens and residents, and suggests that Congress pass the BIOSECURE ACT to disentangle U.S. government and business supply chains from entities linked to Chinese state-owned enterprises and the military.
The report further recommends that Congress amend the Chemicals and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act to sanction entities like the Wuhan Institute of Virology that cannot maintain basic safety standards and share relevant data.
On the White House side, the report suggests that the President prioritize investigating the origin of the epidemic as a key diplomatic mission, imposing sanctions on Chinese officials and entities involved in covering up the pandemic, and incorporating biotechnology into industries restricted by U.S. investments in China.
Additionally, the President should direct U.S. intelligence agencies to collaborate with allies, including the Five Eyes Alliance, in collecting and analyzing data on the origin of COVID-19. The report also recommends the White House verify if China continues to adhere to the Biological Weapons Convention and consider suspending or revoking the Science and Technology Agreement between the U.S. and China.
The report points out that the Chinese authorities have violated the International Health Regulations of the World Health Organization, and the U.S. should hold them accountable, making China pay a hefty price.
“If China (Communist) is allowed to violate its international commitments and trigger a catastrophic global pandemic without consequences, then no global pandemic treaty can ever succeed,” the report emphasizes.
Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe stated at the report’s release, “No American president has directly confronted President Xi Jinping of China about his actions; I don’t think it’s too late to start now.”
He added, “We need to have a direct conversation with the leadership of the People’s Republic of China, making it clear that the U.S. is aware of their actions and how egregious and evil those are, and that they need to be held accountable for past and future actions.”