One of the more hawkish voices with regards to Mainland China throughout the coronavirus pandemic has been Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).

Cotton has insisted the Chinese communist government has not been an honest broker throughout the ordeal and could have prevented some of the hardship with more transparency.

During an appearance on Fox News Channel on Monday, the Arkansas Republican U.S. Senator argued there were ways to extract compensation from China for the suffering caused by coronavirus. Those methods included manufacturing to opening up the courts to allow China to be sued, much like the ability that 9/11 victims were granted.

“Let’s remember that the China virus could have been a local health problem in Wuhan,” he said. “If the Chinese Communist Party had been transparent and honest and not been so corrupt from the very beginning, instead, they unleashed a global pandemic. So, there are many ways in which China is going to pay for this pandemic. One will be the basic removal of fundamental manufacturing capacity from China. What they’ve used to get rich in recent decades, like bringing pharmaceutical and medical device, medical supply manufacturing back to the United States.”

“China should also face economic consequences beyond the loss of their manufacturing capacity, such as opening the court system up for victims of the virus, much like we did for the victims of the 9/11 attacks,” Cotton continued. “And then there’s further actions that we should consider taking as well, like reviewing all of China’s participation in international agencies, some of which seem to answer to the beck and call of Beijing like the World Health Organization. The consequences of this virus are going to be far-reaching and long-lasting for the Chinese Communist Party.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor