US Republicans vow to start new probe into origin of Covid-19 if they win House
- Minority leader Kevin McCarthy says panel will also ‘look at where China has been stealing our technology’ if they gain majority
- Analyst says it suggests Republicans would be more vocal than the Democrats on China, despite their similar policies
He told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures that the select committee would also look into how China was stealing US technology, a charge Beijing has repeatedly denied.
The Republicans are favoured to flip the House in the elections on November 8, while it is unclear if the Democrats will keep their narrow majority in the Senate, according to a forecast by pollster FiveThirtyEight.
“We’re going to look at every industry that China has tried to take control of,” McCarthy said. “We’re going to look at where China has been stealing our technology as well.”
He said an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus would be more important, to prevent such a pandemic from reoccurring.
Lu Xiang, an expert on US-China relations, said McCarthy’s mention of the Covid-19 origin as a matter to be investigated indicated that the Republicans would be more vocal than their Democrat colleagues on China, despite them having similar policies.