In February, the Chinese Consulate of Chicago asked a Wisconsin lawmaker to propose a resolution praising China’s efforts to stop the spread of the “CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.”
Sen. Roger Roth, a Republican from Wisconsin, at first brushed the email off as a joke because it was sent from a Hotmail address. But the Chinese consulate followed up with him in March and passed on a revised version of the resolution.
“You know, I couldn’t believe the brazenness that they would have to try and influence what we’re doing here,” said Sen. Roth in an interview with NTD News. “I’ve never had that—ever had that—where a foreign government passed us a resolution to introduce for anything.”
Roth said he was able to confirm that the email was valid, and that Chinese officials use Hotmail for speedier communication. Some officials from the Chinese consulate of New York have Hotmail email addresses under their contact information.
In the first email, Consul Ting Wu of the Consulate General of P.R. China in Chicago said: “the Consulate General wonders if the Wisconsin State Senate could consider adopting a resolution expressing solidarity with the Chinese people in fighting the coronavirus.”
But included in the consulate’s resolution were several praises, like how the CCP’s measures were “effective in curbing the virus from spreading to other parts of China and the world.”
Window of Opportunity
In short, the senator wasn’t having it. Instead, he proposed a resolution in March condemning the CCP for hiding information that could have slowed the spread of the virus.
The Chinese Consulate’s resolution said, “China has been transparent and quick in sharing key information of the virus with the [World Health Organization] and the international community, thus creating a window of opportunity for other countries to make timely responses.”
Sen. Roth cited this line in his resolution, calling it propaganda and misinformation.
“So they say that they were creating a window of opportunity,” he said in our interview. “The only window the Chinese Communist Party created was a window of opportunity for this virus to spread from the Wuhan province to the entire world, thus creating the pandemic that we have now.”
The senator’s resolution says the State of Wisconsin stands with the Chinese people, who are held hostage by the oppressive regime. Roth said the resolution would move forward in either May or June.