Why retribution against China for coronavirus would harm America and the world

As the human and economic toll of the coronavirus mounts, some U.S. officials are threatening retribution against Beijing for enabling the pandemic. Sens. Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley rolled out a bill last week authorizing sanctions as a way to “make the CCP pay for contributing to this global emergency” and force China to “foot the bill” for the economic fallout. This bill also echoed the type of retaliatory approach endorsed by James Kraska in a recent article in War on the Rocks.

Although these proposals may seem to satisfy a certain thirst for justice in the midst of a senseless crisis — while also serving to deflect blame from U.S. failures in responding to the pandemic — they could not come at a worse time. Coordination with China is more urgent now than ever. Such proposals would endanger such coordination and deepen the current crisis, costing untold lives and mauling the already wounded global economy.

Read the full article here in War on the Rocks