Does China Have A Strong Influence On WHO?
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION – Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in China, it seemed like the country had a curious influence on WHO.
WHO for the longest time, had been at the forefront of battles against devastating disease and illnesses. Most notably, WHO had been doing this for over 112 years with a high success rate.
However, with the new Pandemic, you’d be left to ask “What Happened to WHO?”. Here’s a short timeline on the events that transpired between WHO, China, and the global pandemic, COVID-19.
There have been several theories and conspiracies regarding China and COVID-19. But, this one holds the most concrete connections.
On December, Chinese doctor Li Wenliang warned colleagues of a SARS like illness spreading. Following this, he was silenced and sadly, never had the chance to speak as he died from COVID-19.
Additionally, there have been several citizen reporters that showed the “true” state China was in. But, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were relentless on making arrests and silencing those spreading “rumors” online.
Afterward, during early January, Chinese doctors knew that COVID-19 was capable of human-human transmission. However, WHO-director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was still no “clear evidence” for this.
According to an article from National Review, two weeks later, Ghebreyesus flew to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. After the meeting, he was so impressed that he lauded China’s efforts to curve the spread of the virus.
He stated that China set up a “new standard for outbreak control”. Additionally, he also praised China for their “openness for sharing information”, this, despite numerous reports that say otherwise.
The Connection between WHO-Director General and China
Ghebreyesus himself had an interesting history. Before being the Director-General for WHO, he was previously the foreign minister of Ethiopia.
Interestingly enough, during his stint as foreign minister, Ethiopia was neck-deep in debts of around 12 billion dollars. Furthermore, the loans received were all from China.
Lack of immediate response.
As per the article, despite the outcries and objections of fellow committee members, Ghebreyesus decided to delay declaring COVID-19 as a public-health emergency.
This delayed the distribution of funds and resources around the world for combating the virus. As such, John Mackenzie, a committee member of WHO said the delay was attributed to China’s “very poor reporting” and “very poor communication”.
Yet, the Director-General continued to give praise to the CCP and argued that their efforts caused the virus to slow down the spread of COVID-19 to the rest of the world.
Chinese Backers For the New WHO Director-General
Back in 2017, the Chinese government backed Ghebreyesus’ bid to run the WHO. Afterward, one of his first actions as the new Director-General was barring Taiwanese participation (an extremely vocal opposition to the CCP).
Meanwhile, experts believe that government should investigate China’s influence on the WHO and demand transparency regarding their connection with China.
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