'Largest donor': Pompeo claims US contributed 30% of govt donations for global COVID fight

As the COVID-19 pandemic has taken centre stage with the entire world grappling over it, the US Secretary of the State, Mike Pompeo has made a big claim about the United States being the "single largest donor to the global COVID-19 response".

Taking to Twitter, Pompeo said that the US government has contributed 30 percent of the overall government donations to fighting COVID-19 across the world.

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Even as the US refused to continue funding the World Health Organisation (WHO) with the US President Donald Trump calling WHO a "puppet of China", this statement by Pompeo seemingly comes in response to China's $2 billion contributions to the WHO for pandemic relief programs. 

Trump, in the last several weeks, has also been very critical of China's inability to control the spread of the novel coronavirus within its territory. Trading barbs with China, Donald Trump has said on Thursday that the deadly virus has emerged from China and the US is "not going to take it lightly".  

"It came from China. We are not happy about it. We just signed a trade deal, the ink wasn't dry and all of a sudden this floated in. We are not going to take it lightly,” Trump said participating in a Listening Session with African-American Leaders in Michigan.

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'China lied to the world on coronavirus'

Besides Trump, Republican leaders have also been attacking China for its discretion in handling the COVID-19 outbreak and concealing the severity of the unprecedented crisis which has spread across the world at an alarming rate. Republican Whip and Ranking Member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Steve Scalise, alleged that China lied to the world on coronavirus.

"During a critical period in December and January, China withheld evidence of the virus: evidence that confirmed human to human transmission of the virus, evidence of the extent of the spread. China refused entry of American and other medical experts from around the world for weeks,” Steve Scalise said.

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“And during this time, China hoarded medical supplies like masks, gowns, and other life-saving PPE. Chinese exports of surgical masks, gowns, and gloves were stifled by the Chinese Communist Party during this period. China knew the danger posed by the virus and while they hid the truth, they used the time to stock up on vital medical supplies,” Scalise said.

“While Chinese authorities limited domestic flights from Wuhan to other Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, China's government urged international carriers to maintain their flight schedules — seeding the virus throughout the rest of the world,” he alleged.

(With agency inputs)

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