"Yes, maybe there was a little bit too much trusting of the Chinese" government by U.S. officials in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CBS News' John Dickerson on Sunday's edition of Face the Nation.
Rice explained that given what the George W. Bush administration experienced with the Chinese government's handling of the SARS pandemic — Rice was the national security adviser at the time and told Dickerson "we couldn't get answers" from Beijing — and the threat of an avian flu outbreak in the early 2000s, in retrospect it "wasn't worth trusting that the Chinese were being transparent" about COVID-19 this time around. For example, Rice said she believes "there was too much of a tendency early on to dismiss the possibility of a laboratory leak," a theory that more experts now consider plausible.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why are sinkholes becoming more common?Podcast Plus, will Saudi investment help create the "Netflix of sport"? And why has New Zealand's new tourism campaign met with a savage reception?
-
How Poland became Europe's military powerThe Explainer Warsaw has made its armed forces a priority as it looks to protect its borders and stay close to the US
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 - 21 FebruaryHave you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study findsSpeed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cowsSpeed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year
-
Microplastics accumulating in human brains, study findsSpeed Read The amount of tiny plastic particles found in human brains increased dramatically from 2016 to 2024
-
FDA approves painkiller said to thwart addictionSpeed Read Suzetrigine, being sold as Journavx, is the first new pharmaceutical pain treatment approved by the FDA in 20 years
-
Study finds possible alternative abortion pillSpeed Read An emergency contraception (morning-after) pill called Ella could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions
-
HMPV is spreading in China but there's no need to worryThe Explainer Respiratory illness is common in winter
-
Marty Makary: the medical contrarian who will lead the FDAIn the Spotlight What Johns Hopkins surgeon and commentator Marty Makary will bring to the FDA
-
California declares bird flu emergencySpeed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
