Report: China hid coronavirus info to hoard supplies

As China downplayed the severity of the virus, the country began increasing imports and decreasing exports of medical supplies

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A man wears a mask as he walks past a mural showing a modified image of the Chinese Communist Party emblem in Shanghai, China after the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, January 28, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/ALY SONG)
A man wears a mask as he walks past a mural showing a modified image of the Chinese Communist Party emblem in Shanghai, China after the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, January 28, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/ALY SONG)
The Chinese government may have withheld information about the severity and extent of the novel coronavirus in order to hoard necessary medical supplies, according to an intelligence report by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reported by The Associated Press on Monday.
The DHS reached this conclusion with "moderate confidence," according to the AP.
As China downplayed the severity of the virus, the country began increasing imports and decreasing exports of medical supplies.
The four-page DHS report stated that China merged trade figures for January and February and delayed the release of trade data in an effort to cover up the move.
The report reached the conclusion on the basis of the 95% probability that China's changes in imports and exports were not within normal range, according to the AP.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told ABC News on Sunday that the US could "confirm" China's government "did all that it could to make sure that the world didn’t learn in a timely fashion about what was taking place. There’s lots of evidence of that."


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