Rep. Palmer: ‘China is constantly trying to take advantage of the situation’

The behavior of the People’s Republic of China amid the coronavirus pandemic has left much to be desired. The government of the nation of an estimated 1.4 billion people has not been transparent and they have threatened punitive actions against nations that call them out for this behavior.

That is to be expected, according to U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover), who warns against expecting anything different from the Asian communist superpower.

During an interview with Huntsville radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Palmer deemed China a “bad actor,” and noted the action that led to President Donald Trump banning flights in and out of China to the United States.

“China is constantly trying to take advantage of the situation,” Palmer said. “They impose themselves in the South China Sea, illegally in violation of international law. To expect China to behave in a way that we would want them to behave is foolhardy. They’re not going to do that. I can’t speak for the decisionmaking of other countries but if the United States were presented with the same opportunity as the Chinese would offer it, to get health care equipment but we would have to use Huawei, I would say turn it down.”

“The key — and I’m not an isolationist, I’m pretty much a free trader — there’s certain things you have to add to your calculations when you’re talking about dealing with certain countries around the world, whether it is Russia and the Saudis and what they’re doing with the oil prices, or China with them just flat-out being a bad actor, ” he explained. “I think that has to become part of the calculation here, and not lose sight of the fact of who we’re dealing with.”

“I mean, Xi Jinping — I was at a lunch with the president at the White House,” Palmer continued. “I’m part of a leadership team, and we met with President Trump on January 27, and he told us them about phone calls — multiple calls he had with Xi Jinping trying to allow our scientist to come in and help them stem the outbreak, and send the CDC in so we could get a better handle on what this virus was like. Xi wouldn’t allow it. That’s when the president banned out the flights into and out of China, which by the way, despite the fact that he was viciously attacked by the left-wing media — that was exactly the right decision.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.