The Republican Party has vowed to start a new committee to investigate the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) origins should the GOP gain the majority in the upcoming midterm elections on November 8.
House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Fox News' that apart from the probe on the virus's origins, they will also look into how the United States can bring home supply chains from China and where Beijing has been stealing U.S. technology.
"We're going to look at every industry that China has tried to take control of," McCarthy said and pointed out that the "investigation into the origin of the coronavirus would be more important, to prevent such a pandemic from reoccurring."
Observers have positive feedback on what the GOP leader stated. Lu Xiang, an expert on U.S.-China relations, said the congressman's push to launch probes indicated that the Reps would be more vocal than their Dems House counterparts on issues involving Communist China.
"He was trying to bring back the origin debate," said Lu, the director for research at the Hong Kong-based Chinese Institute of Hong Kong, an affiliate of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
The SARS-CoV-2 virus was first detected in Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei province.
Even National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been linked to gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in Wuhan lab, has called for greater transparency from the Chinese government regarding this issue.
Fauci accused Beijing of "probably" withholding information from the international community. "The fact is, as a society when something occurs that looks like even if it is naturally coming out of China – they will be secretive about it because of this feeling that they’re gonna get blamed for something," Fauci said. (Related: Fauci calls for Beijing to be transparent about COVID origins.)
The World Health Organization's (WHO) investigation reported that it was "extremely unlikely" that the coronavirus originated from a lab and that a natural origin in bats was most likely.
South China Morning Post said China rejected WHO's plan for another phase of investigation because it would include an audit of laboratories in Wuhan, saying the probe should instead focus on tracing animal origins.
Some analysts thought that there is nothing to worry about GOP's plan should they have the majority control of the House. "U.S.-China ties are bad enough," Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at the Renmin University of China, said. "Even with these initiatives from the Republican Party, we won't see a significant or clear deterioration of relations."
McCarthy says he is better prepared to lead as speaker
During a recent interview with the New York Magazine, McCarthy announced he is now "better prepared" to lead as speaker in the lower chamber than in the past. He came close to becoming speaker in 2015, before dropping out of the race shortly before the voting.
He made the decision after drawing criticisms for comments suggesting that House Republicans' investigation into the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, had a political motive behind it.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus, which at the time had more than 40 members, endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) for the top post. Then-Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) was also in the running, though the speakership ultimately went to then-Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Now, McCarthy is claiming to have fostered a good relationship with Freedom Caucus founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). "Probably my biggest advocate is Jim Jordan," he said.
Pollster FiveThirtyEight predicted that the Republicans are favored to flip the House. According to the site, there's an 81 percent likelihood for Republicans to gain the majority while the Democrats only have 19 percent.
McCarthy posted on Twitter: "Republicans have the right plan to make America safe again," which included steps to "fund the police, secure the border and hold 'woke' district attorneys accountable." His policy agenda, which he dubbed as "Commitment to America," was rolled out at an event in Pennsylvania last month and can be browsed through the Republican Leader website.
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