China holds back coronavirus data in race for cure against US: Navarro
Peter Navarro says China wants to find a vaccine, sell it to the world
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Ever since coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China, President Trump has asserted coronavirus deaths are much higher in China than the Communist government has reported.
China has more than four times the population of the U.S. yet reported far fewer deaths: about 4,600 vs. more than 32,000 in the United States as of late Friday afternoon.
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But White House trade adviser Peter Navarro believes China is holding back coronavirus patients' data because the country wants to find a vaccine before America does.
"One of the reasons they may not have let us in and give us data early is they're racing to get a vaccine and this is a competitive business race so they can sell it to the world," Navarro told FOX Business' Lou Dobbs on Monday.
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But Navarro assured the nation the United States is going to win this race "because of Trump's leadership."
Navarro said he finds the delay of information suspicious for another reason, and it has to do with the personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain being based in China.
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"One of the things I find troubling about the whole thing besides spawning it, China vacuumed up all the PPE around the world while it was hiding the virus," Navarro explained during "Lou Dobbs Tonight." "I have evidence from the Chinese government customs that shows in the months of January and February, they bought 18 times more the amount of masks alone."
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Navarro accused China of "hoarding" all the PPE as the pandemic expanded globally.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.