Published 21:23 IST, April 8th 2020
COVID-19: WHO denies being 'China-centric' after Trump's allegations
WHO on Wednesday, April 8 responded to US President Donald Trump's threat of withholding funds for its alleged mishandling of the pandemic.
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World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday, April 8 responded to US President Donald Trump's threat of withholding funds for its alleged mishandling of the pandemic. WHO officials denied that the UN body was "China-centric" and said this is not the time to cut on funding after Trump accused it of giving “faulty recommendation”.
The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2020
During the daily press briefing, Trump had threatened WHO to withholding funds as the United States is its biggest contributor. The UN health agency has been facing criticism for not providing adequate information regarding the pandemic and previously, former NSA John Bolton has also accused WHO of acting as an “accomplice” to China in concealing information related to coronavirus pandemic.
Taking to Twitter, Bolton had demanded the resignation of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General. He asserted that Ghebreyesus "misled" the world by trusting a “communist regime intent.”
The @WHO is an accomplice to China's massive coverup of Covid19. That's why I support efforts by @marcorubio & @tedcruz pushing for resignation of WHO director general. He misled the world by blindly trusting a communist regime intent on deception.
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) April 6, 2020
'China Health Organisation'
Last week, Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro slammed the WHO saying it should be renamed as China Health Organization or 'CHO' as he accused the UN body of giving in to China’s spin about the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to the Japanese lawmakers in the parliament, Taro referenced an online petition calling for the removal of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He further said that if the WHO had not insisted to the world that China had no pneumonia epidemic, then everybody would have taken precautions.
(With agency inputs; Image Credit: Twitter / @DrTedros)
21:23 IST, April 8th 2020