New House Bill Aims to Prevent Virus Relief Funds From Flowing to China

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) awaits the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC on February 04, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

As the U.S. Congress works to pass a $2 trillion dollar stimulus package to assist Americans and businesses affected by the current pandemic, a U.S. lawmaker has proposed a bill that would prevent funding from flowing into China.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced the “No Chinese Handouts in National Assistance Act,” also known as the “No CHINA Act,” on March 24. The bill would prevent any funds—including virus relief refunds—appropriated by Congress in fiscal year 2020 from being distributed to companies owned by the Chinese regime.

“Chinese corporations operating in America must not be eligible for the upcoming trillion-dollar bailout, now or ever,” stated Gaetz in a press release from his office.

He added: “Every single American worker displaced by COVID-19 should be fully compensated, before one nickel from our treasury goes to Chinese-owned corporations operating here in the United States.” To this, the congressman called for a “full stop.”

The global pandemic started in Wuhan, the capital of central China’s Hubei province, in December 2019. Since then, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus has spread to over 180 countries and regions and killed more than 10,000 people outside of China.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the CCP’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

In the United States, the virus has sickened more than 55,000 people and caused at least 790 deaths. Thousands of businesses have been impacted by the outbreak and more than 100 million people across the country have been asked to stay at home.

The $2 trillion proposal being deliberated by lawmakers would include one-time payments of $1,200 or more per individual, a $500 billion fund to assist industries hit hard by the outbreak, $350 billion in loans for small businesses, and $250 trillion for expanded unemployment aid.

Gaetz also called out the Chinese regime for spreading false information to American audiences about the virus.

“The global coronavirus pandemic has been exacerbated by the Chinese government’s malicious misinformation and propaganda campaign against the United States and its citizens,” he said in the release.

“Allowing American taxpayers’ money to go to companies owned by the Communist Chinese government is antithetical to our ‘America First’ agenda.”

Since early March, the Chinese regime has been aggressively pushing a global propaganda campaign to deflect attention from its initial mishandling of the outbreak.

The Chinese regime silenced eight whistleblowers, among them ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, after they disclosed an “unknown pneumonia” outbreak on Chinese social media in December 2019.

On March 13, the U.S. State Department summoned China’s ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai, after Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry, accused the U.S. Army of bringing the CCP virus into Wuhan.

Following that, three Republican senators wrote to President Donald Trump on March 23, proposing the establishment of an interagency task force under the command of the White House National Security Council to counter Beijing’s propaganda surrounding the CCP virus.

Gaetz’s bill pointed out that Taiwanese nationals and Taiwanese companies would be not subjected to the bill’s restrictions.

Taiwan and the United States have recently intensified their partnership on combating the virus. The two sides agreed to cooperate on research and development of rapid diagnostic tests and vaccines, and exchange medical supplies and equipment.

Reuters contributed to this report.