U.S. Rep. Aderholt: ‘So many wrongs’ in China need to be changed — Christians still persecuted

The coronavirus pandemic has brought on calls for the United States to rethink its relationship with the Chinese government.

As government officials are taking up that cause, U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) explained that not everyone has always been skeptical of China and its practices, especially regarding human rights and its persecution of Christians under the communist regime.

Friday on Huntsville radio’s WVNN, Aderholt explained how despite having an abysmal track record, too often, the U.S. government looked the other way, which is something he hopes will change given China’s role in the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“I have never been a big supporter of doing these free trade agreements and giving most-favored-nation status to China, even though a lot of my Republican colleagues have over the past years,” Aderholt said. “It is so refreshing to have Trump in office, where as a president he was standing up to that and saying, ‘You know, this is crazy that we’re making these sweetheart deals with China, and we’re actually losing so much.’ That was something the Republican Party was missing. A lot of the times, I was one of the few that cast a ‘no’ vote on most-favored trading status with China. And most of my Republican colleagues were 100% on board.”

“I’ve always been concerned about the human rights aspect — that they have such a disregard, especially the Christian community,” he said. “Christians are still persecuted there. There’s the underground church. If you have a church in China, you have to be approved by the government. There are so many wrongs going on [in China] right now that need to be changed. And once and for all, for the American people to see that we need to do something different, and hopefully the good thing to come out of the coronavirus issue, the coronavirus problem that we’ve had is the fact that people are seeing that we need to be careful with China.”

@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.