这张摄于2020年2月3日的照片显示，一名医生在中国中部湖北省武汉市的一个病房里巡视时，正在看肺部的CT图像。美国政府官员威胁要对中国进行报复，因为他们认为中国试图向外界隐瞒最初疫情的性质和严重性。
在周六的一次卫星广播采访中，中国国家副主席迈克·彭斯就中国对冠状病毒的处理向中国发出威胁，称中国“将对所报道的试图隐瞒COVID-19疫情信息的行为负责”。
“中国让世界失望了，”彭斯在周六接受保守的布雷巴特新闻频道采访时表示。布雷巴特新闻频道是由西里乌斯圣诞网主持的。“我的意思是，想到中国直到2月中旬才让美国疾控中心的人员进入现场调查到底发生了什么，这很了不起。”
这位副总统还指责世界卫生组织是中国的“自愿合作伙伴”，据报道，该组织隐瞒了COVID-19的信息。
世卫组织和中国驻华盛顿大使馆都没有返回新闻周刊在出版前征求意见。
新闻周刊有以前报道过根据中央情报局的一项评估发现，今年早些时候，中国威胁说，如果世卫组织宣布全球卫生紧急状态，将切断该组织进入中国进行冠状病毒调查的渠道。
周六的评论是美国官员提出或威胁采取的一系列报复措施中的最新一项。
共和党参议员乔希·霍利(Josh Hawley)今年4月提出一项立法，将剥夺中国根据《外国主权豁免法》获得的大部分民事豁免权，该法保护外国政府免受大多数美国法律诉讼，比如那些寻求对COVID-19流感大流行负责的法律诉讼。
霍利在为该法案辩护时表示，“有压倒性的证据表明，中国共产党的谎言、欺骗和无能导致COVID-19从地方性疾病爆发转变为全球性流行病。”
其他著名的立法者也公开反对中国对危机的处理，比如现任情报委员会主席、共和党参议员马尔科·卢比奥，他说中国“未能”透明“已经让全世界人民付出了生命”
在COVID-19与一系列其他长期存在的经济问题交汇的背景下，两党立法已被引入，以减少关键商品(如药品)对中国供应链的依赖。
最近几周，唐纳德·特朗普总统对中国的明显不满似乎已经爆发。5月中旬，奥巴马威胁要“切断与中国的整个关系”，抱怨在全球大流行的情况下，全球供应链的性质。
奥巴马政府打算如何以统一的方式处理与中国的多边不满——贸易、人权、公共卫生——仍不清楚。但它仍在继续采取孤立的行动，这种行动已经引起了该国的反感。
过去两周，商务部已采取行动，禁止中国实体获得美国商品和服务，包括电信巨头华为(Huawei)，这是中国海外业务组合的一个关键要素。
星期五，部门增加了24家中国公司该法案禁止美国出口商在没有特别授权的情况下与这些公司做生意。作为对政府限制的回应，中国以自身的权利威胁要对苹果等美国知名企业进行报复。
Vice President Pence Threatens to Hold China 'Accountable' for Reported Concealment of COVID-19 Information
This photo taken on February 3, 2020, shows a doctor looking at a lung CT image while making his rounds at a ward in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, in China's central Hubei province. U.S. government officials have threatened to retaliate against China for what they believe were attempts to conceal the nature and severity of the initial outbreak from the outside world.
In a satellite radio interview on Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence issued a threat to China over its handling of the coronavirus, saying the country "will be held accountable" for reported attempts to conceal information about the COVID-19 outbreak.
"China let the world down," Pence told the conservative channel Breitbart News Saturday, which is hosted on the SiriusXM network. "I mean, it's remarkable to think China didn't even let American CDC personnel in on the ground until mid-February to find out what was going on."
The vice president further accused the World Health Organization of being China's "willing partner" in its reported concealment of COVID-19 information.
Both the WHO and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not return Newsweek's requests for comment before publication.
Newsweek has previously reported on a Central Intelligence Agency assessment finding that earlier this year China threatened to cut off WHO's access to the country for its coronavirus investigation if the organization declared a global health emergency.
Saturday's comments are the latest in a string of retaliatory measures either proposed or threatened by U.S. officials.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley introduced legislation in April that would strip China of much of the civil immunity it receives under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which protects foreign governments from most U.S. lawsuits, such as those seeking accountability for the COVID-19 pandemic.
In justifying the legislation, Hawley said at the time "there is overwhelming evidence that the Chinese Communist Party's lies, deceit, and incompetence caused COVID-19 to transform from a local disease outbreak into a global pandemic."
Other prominent lawmakers have spoken out against China's handling of the crisis, such as Republican Senator Marco Rubio, now the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, who said China's "failure" to be transparent "has cost the lives of people around the world."
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains for critical goods, such as pharmaceuticals, amid the confluence of COVID-19 with a host of other longstanding economic concerns.
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump's evident frustrations with China have appeared to boil over. In mid-May, the president threatened to "cut off the whole relationship" with China, complaining about the nature of global supply chains amid a worldwide pandemic.
How the administration intends on pursuing its multi-lateral grievances—trade, human rights, public health—with China in a unified manner remains unclear. But it is continuing to make discrete moves that have served to antagonize the country.
Over the past two weeks, the Department of Commerce has moved to block access to U.S. goods and services for Chinese entities, including the telecommunications giant Huawei, a key element of China's foreign business portfolio.
On Friday, the department added 24 Chinese firms to its Entity List, forbidding U.S. exporters from doing business with the companies in the absence of special authorization. China has, in its own right, threatened to retaliate against prominent U.S. corporations, such as Apple, in response to the administration's restrictions.
