The Trump administration should expel China's ambassador, Cui Tiankai, over his nation's coronavirus lies. The need for action is clear.

At present, we're allowing Xi Jinping's regime to get away with a disgusting defamation against our nation. This is especially jarring in that Xi's regime is solely responsible for the coronavirus pandemic. But its lies are quite extraordinary.

Lead by Lijian Zhao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's most senior U.S.-focused Twitter troll, Chinese bots are spreading the rumor that the U.S. Army brought the coronavirus to Wuhan. We are not told how this was supposed to have happened, except that the U.S. Army was present at the October 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan.

The absurdity here reflects something.

Now that the Chinese Communist Party has gotten over the worst of its own outbreak, it is trying to deflect and distract away from its original culpability. This fits with Vladimir Putin's own propaganda effort to blame the United States for the virus. In both cases, China and Russia are seeking to use this global calamity to damage their primary adversary: America.

However, thus far, the Trump administration's reaction to this idiocy has been insufficient. The State Department on Friday summoned Cui over Zhao's latest outburst, but that action isn't enough. Through Zhao, Xi's regime is behaving as if it can say anything without any consequences. This includes Zhao's recent threats against American journalists.

This cannot stand.

The Chinese Communist Party needs to be sent a message here, and one that will reverberate around the world. They need a message that holds Xi to account for the epidemic of deception that has defined his handling of the actual pandemic. Until we are willing to call the Chinese government out for the chaos it has created and seems determined to so outrageously now stir onto us, it will double down on that approach. That means more lies and slander, just as more Americans suffer.

Time for President Trump to take action against China. Time to send Ambassador Cui home.