Published 08:38 IST, April 24th 2020
Trump blocking '$500 million', China adds $30 million cash donation to WHO; states purpose
China has announced additional financial assistance of USD 30 million for the World Health Organisation on April 22 in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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China has announced additional financial assistance of USD 30 million for the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 22 in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying has taken to Twitter to make the official announcement of the donation.
China has decided to donate additional $30 million in cash to WHO to support its global fight against #COVID19, in particular strengthening developing countries' health systems. China already donated $20 million in cash to WHO on March 11.
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) April 23, 2020
This comes after the US President Donald Trump accused WHO of delaying the global response to the pandemic halted its funds for the organisation after calling it “Chinese-centric”. Earlier China had already announced a donation of USD 20 million and after the recent announcement by China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the total contribution from the Chinese government to WHO becomes USD 50 million.
Trump slams WHO for delayed action
Since criticism had mounted on US President Donald Trump for halting funds for the WHO amid pandemic, he took on Twitter to slam the UN health agency on April 17 for ignoring the alerts sent by Taiwan regarding the human-to-human transmission of the novel virus in the preliminary stage of the outbreak. Trump also questioned WHO for spreading “misleading, inaccurate” information about the coronavirus in January, February since it was discovered in Chian in December 2019. The US President also held the WHO accountable for the delay in taking decisive action.
Trump claimed that the US used to fund at least $400 - $500 million to the World Health Organisation, every year, whereas China roughly funded $40 million. Moreover, the US President also believes that the outbreak would have been contained in the early stages if WHO had urged China to be more transparent and sent medical experts to the mainland for assessment of the situation.
08:38 IST, April 24th 2020