Executive Summary
During the 2003 SARS pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used its stranglehold on journalists and dissidents in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to hide information and obfuscate the source of the outbreak. CCP leaders failed to inform the World Health Organization (WHO) about the virus for four months. In the wake of this malfeasance, the world demanded reforms to the International Health Regulations (IHR) that govern how countries are required to handle public health emergencies. Today, it has become clear that the CCP failed to heed these lessons. The ongoing pandemic is a tragic second chapter to their mishandling of the 2003 SARS outbreak.
There remain many unanswered questions as to the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and the root of the global pandemic. Nine months into the pandemic, new information continues to emerge from the PRC and elsewhere showing the scale of CCP efforts to cover up the outbreak and punish countries seeking accountability. After discovering new evidence and receiving additional information from the WHO, this report is an effort to put that information into context, define what questions regarding the virus and the response are still outstanding, and provide recommendations on how to improve the global response moving forward. A previous, interim version of this report focused on the early phases of the pandemic, prior to the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020. After the publication of that report, both the WHO and CCP modified their public statements regarding COVID-19, with the WHO issuing a new, “updated” timeline and the CCP temporarily retracting their claim that they notified the WHO on December 31, 2019. This final version extends the timeline through the declaration of a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020 and discusses significant events after that date.
It is beyond doubt that the CCP actively engaged in a cover-up designed to obfuscate data, hide relevant public health information, and suppress doctors and journalists who attempted to warn the world. They deliberately, and repeatedly, disregarded their obligations under the 2005 IHR. Senior CCP leaders, including CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, knew a pandemic was ongoing weeks before it was announced. By responding in a transparent and responsible manner, the CCP could have supported the global public health response and shared information with the world about how to handle the virus. It is likely the ongoing pandemic could have been prevented had they done so, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and the world from an economic meltdown. As more countries have begun to question the CCP’s official accounting of the early stages of the pandemic and call for an international investigation, the PRC has used economic manipulation and trade coercion to demand silence.
WHO Director-General Tedros has responded to the CCP’s cover-up by praising the CCP for their “transparency,” despite internal documents showing WHO frustration with the CCP’s failure to share critical data and information about the virus. The WHO has repeatedly parroted CCP talking points while ignoring conflicting information from reputable sources. Director General Tedros’ full-throated defense of the CCP’s early response and embrace of their revisionist history, as well as the impact of his actions on the global response, remains incredibly concerning. There are a multitude of outstanding questions that require a serious examination of the WHO’s handling of COVID-19. However, it remains clear the WHO has failed to fulfill certain duties required by the IHR.
Reflecting on what the Committee Minority has uncovered so far, the failures of the CCP to protect their citizens and fulfill their obligations under international law have resulted in disappeared journalists, a world seized by an ongoing public health emergency, economic calamities, and hundreds of thousands of dead. As such, it is incumbent upon the United States and likeminded WHO Member States to ensure real accountability and necessary reforms in order to prevent the CCP’s malfeasance from giving rise to a third pandemic originating from China during this century.
