Weingarten: Should America decouple from China, what should that decoupling consist of, and how should we go about achieving it?

Cruz: I think the most important foreign policy consequence of the coronavirus pandemic is going to be a fundamental reassessment of the United States’ relationship with China. For far too long, voices in Washington in both parties have been content to be apologists for China, to minimize the risk, to excuse the oppression, the torture, the murder, the lies, all in search of an extra dollar they believed we could make in global commerce.

Over the coming years, I hope we see a significant decoupling from China. Now, that doesn’t mean completely and utterly severing all economic ties. We’re able to engage in commerce with our competitors and with our enemies. What it does mean is being absolutely clear-eyed about who the Chinese Communists are, and the fact that they are our enemies.

It also means not allowing the United States to be vulnerable to Chinese communist aggression. The Chinese government has systematically targeted critical infrastructure, the critical needs in the U.S. economy and in the lives of American citizens. I believe we need to fundamentally alter our supply chain so that critical infrastructure is not dependent on China.