Since the first news about the coronavirus (COVID-19) broke in late December, it’s been clear that China has not been as honest about this new disease as they should have been. And in fact, there is some evidence that suggests the communist nation has been even more untruthful than we first thought. To make the situation even more bizarre, China has recently accused the U.S. of being the culprit for bringing COVID-19 to their country.
That’s why Media Research Center sent a letter to President Donald Trump, requesting that he investigate China for how they handled COVID-19. Forty other Christian leaders signed the letter, which says:
Dear Mr. President,
We represent virtually the entirety of the conservative movement but we believe we speak for hundreds of millions in the country and around the world when we ask you to officially investigate the deadly Coronavirus. The world needs to know the details behind the spread of this deadly virus so everyone understands exactly how this was started. The world deserves to know who was responsible so future pandemics of this nature can be prevented.
As we are sure you are aware, the Chinese government has done everything in its power to blame the United States for the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian placed the responsibility on the United States: “When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!”
A few days later, Lin Songtian, China’s ambassador to South Africa, said: “Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone ‘made in China.'”
These statements are astonishing – but predictable… It’s impossible for us to know the true origin of this virus in China because China has refused to share information. As Senator Tom Cotton has correctly pointed out, there are several possible scenarios about the origin of the Wuhan Coronavirus. We do know that Chinese secrecy and lies have made the crisis far worse.
China’s outright and extreme politicization of this horrible disease is outrageous, unacceptable, and dangerous. That politicization has already spread panic across the world. The Chinese-led hysteria has roiled markets, and disrupted everyday life for millions of Americans and citizens of other countries around the world.
As your National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien rightly pointed out, “Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up,’ ‘There’s lots of open-source reporting from China, from Chinese nationals, that the doctors involved were either silenced or put in isolation, or that sort of thing, so that the word of this virus could not get out. It probably cost the world community two months.'”
And consider the well-known case of Dr. Li Wenliang, the young Chinese doctor who bravely shared his concerns on December 31, 2019, with a group of colleagues about an unidentified virus with SARS-like symptoms that his patients were exhibiting. As a result of his due diligence, Chinese authorities accused him of spreading “false information” and that he had “gravely disturbed [the] social order.”
None of this is being reported as it ought to be in American media. Instead, the media are creating panic and blaming your administration. All of this could have been prevented if the Chinese government had merely exercised its responsibility in containing this disease and sharing more information sooner.
We therefore respectfully request you consider launching a more formal investigation to uncover the truth. The first step in making sure this never happens again is finding out what happened in the first place.
Some of the signers included Movieguide®’s Ted Baehr, Christian author Brigitte Gabriel, Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, WND’s David Kupelian and Rev. Samuel Rodriguez.
I think this letter is incredibly important, and I hope the president acts on it. And it’s not just Christian leaders in the U.S. who think China’s dealings with the coronavirus are dishonest. Back in mid-February, I interviewed a pastor I’ll call “Jay” to protect his identity. He and his wife are both Americans who are from Taiwan. In fact, you may recall that in my last interview with Frank Amedia, we discussed this couple and how the wife—whom I’ll call “Grace”—recently returned from Taiwan after visiting a sick relative.
Jay and Grace have keen insight into the situation in China, especially since Jay says he has done work in evolutionary genetics. Jay believes COVID-19 was manufactured in a Chinese lab. He says this new coronavirus is altered in a way that would normally take years and years to happen. The only explanation, he says, is that it was genetically engineered—perhaps as a biological weapon.
He says that back when SARS ended, the French and the Chinese came together to create labs where they could do research to make sure something like SARS never happened again. But when the French realized this research could be weaponized, they withdrew and cut the funding.
Hopefully an investigation can uncover the truth about this. But in the meantime, Jay and Grace are busy helping their church in the U.S. cope with the virus and stay healthy and safe. For now, they are doing their services online. They’re also encouraging their congregation to have a heavenly perspective of this situation.
“A much more encouraging view is that it pulls the families together,” Grace says on my podcast. “It gives us more time to stay home and live a simpler life instead of traveling around and forgetting we have a God.”
When I asked her why she and Jay believe God has allowed this virus to grow, she responded: “I think He is shaping us. I think the end times are very close. The window is getting narrower now. So we have to be true disciples. True disciples enter through the narrow gate. We need much quiet time before our God so that we will be like the five virgins with oil in their lamps.”
I hope every believer has this perspective. We need to be spiritually awake during these times if we want to be ready when Jesus returns.
Make sure you listen to my full podcast, where I talk about the letter Media Research Center sent to Trump as well as share an exclusive interview with Jay and Grace.
Stephen Strang 
