Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said on Tuesday that China’s standing in international organizations should be reexamined considering the damage the country created by failing to contain the coronavirus.

“China must pay for damages caused by the coronavirus. It’s standing within international organizations should also be re-examined,” Blackburn wrote on Tuesday.

China must pay for damages caused by the coronavirus. It’s standing within international organizations should also be re-examined. — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) April 7, 2020

Blackburn’s commentary follows as politicians and lawmakers have become increasingly critical of China’s relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO). Many Republicans have criticized the WHO for reportedly working to conceal China’s failure to contain the coronavirus.

Sen. Martha McNally (R-AZ) called on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying in April:

I’ve never trusted a communist. And their cover-up of this virus that originated with them has caused unnecessary deaths around America and around the world. The WHO needs to stop covering for them. I think Dr. Tedros needs to step down. We need to take some action to address this issue. It’s just irresponsible. It’s unconscionable what they have done here while we have people dying across the globe.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) in March called on Congress to hold a hearing and investigate the WHO’s role in helping China hide its incompetence surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.

Scott said in his statement:

The mission of the WHO is to get public health information to the world so every country can make the best decisions to keep their citizens safe. When it comes to Coronavirus, the WHO failed. They need to be held accountable for their role in promoting misinformation and helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic. We know Communist China is lying about how many cases and deaths they have, what they knew and when they knew it – and the WHO never bothered to investigate further. Their inaction cost lives. As soon as Congress is back in session, there should be a hearing, along with a full investigation, to review whether American taxpayers should continue to spend millions of dollars every year to fund an organization that willfully parroted propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party.

However, Blackburn’s commentary could suggest that politicians should reexamine China’s status in other international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations’ National Security Council.

The Tennessee senator charged that China’s failure to contain the coronavirus spread means that the world should reconsider China’s membership across many international organizations.



“China’s failure to control the spread of COVID-19 requires us to seriously examine its role in international organizations, including the World Health Organization and UN Security Council,” Blackburn told Breitbart News. “Now is the time to determine how China’s actions today should impact its role in the global community tomorrow.”