Condoleezza Rice: 'Wasn't worth trusting' China in early stages of pandemic

"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.
Rice clarified that she wants to "give people a break" because "when you're in the middle of one of these unfolding crises, you don't really know what's going on." Still, she said if the U.S. wants to avoid "repeating this problem ... we're going to have to be a little bit more aggressive with the Chinese about the need to cooperate."
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
A tall ship adventure in the Mediterranean
The Week Recommends Sailing aboard this schooner and exploring Portugal, Spain and Monaco is a 'magical' experience
-
How drone warfare works
The Explainer From Ukraine to Iran, it has become clear that unmanned aircraft are rapidly revolutionising modern warfare
-
The tourist flood in the Mediterranean: can it be stemmed?
Talking Point Finger-pointing at Airbnb or hotel owners obscures the root cause of overtourism in holiday hotspots: unmanageable demand
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive order
speed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr.: A new plan for sabotaging vaccines
Feature The Health Secretary announced changes to vaccine testing and asks Americans to 'do your own research'
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths