US President gave an ultimatum of 30 days to the WHO, to prove its independence from China. If the organization fails to prove its ‘innocence’, Trump in his innate style told he will seriously consider withdrawing the US from the health organization thereby stopping funding permanently.
Trump has also ordered an inquiry to assess the role of WHO in the covering or mismanagement of the spread of the deadly coronavirus when it first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
In a four-page letter to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Trump said,”It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the WHO is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China.”Trump continued,”My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste, he wrote in his three-page letter”.That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization, Trump said.
The US president, who faces re-election this year, has himself been criticized for his handling of the pandemic, has blamed China for trying to cover up the outbreak, and has accused the WHO of failing to hold Beijing to account.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “Mr. Trump was trying to mislead the public, smear China and shift the blame for [the US’s] own incompetent response”.
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