Leadership should protect our state

To the editor:

China lied, people died. So, what are we going to do about it?

Who could have guessed that an outbreak in China would lead to a global pandemic? Well, according to the United States intelligence community, Chinese leadership did.

More information keeps coming out that China lied to the world about the seriousness of COVID-19. The Chinese government intentionally under-reported both the number of cases and deaths in the country. Our world could have been much more equipped to handle a pandemic and to take precautions early had we known about the full-extent of the disease. But instead of warning the world, the Communist leaders in Beijing decided they would try to cover up the outbreak rather than give the appearance that they had an outbreak on their hands.

The world will remember COVID-19 as China’s Chernobyl moment. Here, we have a case where an authoritarian, socialist regime’s lies and secrecy causes an outbreak, and the world suffers for it. Like the Soviet Union before it, China’s government has endangered the lives of millions of people and threatened the health and safety of our world through its deceit.

The Communist leaders of China tried to cover up an epidemic on their hands, allowing free travel in and out of the country, thus allowing the virus to spread. In trying to protect their grip of authority, the Communists exposed the world to a pandemic the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetime.

That is why I support President Trump taking the World Health Organization to task for using satin gloves when dealing with China. If the WHO had been doing its job right, it would have investigated China to the full extent rather than take China at its word. The WHO did not push China to correct its mistakes or handle the outbreak. President Trump is right to question whether the United States should fund an organization that does not do its job.

I’m not a politician. I’m not a state representative, I’m not part of a political dynasty. I am a fellow citizen who tells it like it is. Our state should join with the president in pushing back against the Chinese government. China should be held accountable in Jefferson City. Missouri should take a strong stance against the Chinese government and their communist leaders for their mishandling of this crisis. I appreciate elected officials keeping us updated on COVID-19, but we need the Jefferson City swamp to hold China accountable for what they have done here, too.

Ultimately, China needs to be taken to task for their role in creating this crisis. This is a classic case where tyrannical, foreign powers have threatened the security of our nation, and of our state. Leadership in Jefferson City should protect our state and our communities from both pandemics and hostile foreign powers alike, and we the people need to ensure that our leaders are up to the task of protecting us.

Eddy Justice

Poplar Bluff

Candidate for state Senate