CNN评论：特朗普会不会被蓝金黄铁拳“捶醒”？

China is cashing in on a crisis they played a large part in creating.

This is both a boon to China's economy and a great propaganda point for the Chinese Communist Party. Their disinformation attacks of late have tried to paint the Party as a global leader when it comes to crisis response, despite the fact it is directly responsible for suppressing information about the outbreak, which allowed the coronavirus to spread for weeks.

While the United States is struggling to contain the virus, treat those who have been infected and get enough medical supplies, China, claiming to be "post-virus," is manufacturing supplies at a rate we can't. After months of lockdowns, China can start to bounce back by filling the economic void while we scramble just to contain the virus. They have a strategy -- and we don't.

Because the CCP has a finger in the Chinese economy, it has the ability to manipulate trade and manufacturing to serve state needs.

We've seen this play out in the past during the trade war when the government engaged in retaliatory measures such as unnecessary government inspections and slower customs clearance against US companies operating in China, for example. The same applies during the pandemic -- China has the ability to cut off or slow the export of supplies from China that American lives depend on. They have us over a barrel.

We are not the only country in this position. China has the upper hand as countries scramble to fight the pandemic. Meanwhile, the CCP is trying to do abroad what it does at home -- sell a false narrative. They're using all the tools at their disposal to spread disinformation about their role in addressing the virus, its origin and more.

The Trump administration and other officials need to do what it takes to save lives right now. But it should be aware that the reliance on China comes at great cost.

The terrible reality is that the administration has put American lives in Chinese hands.