U.S. savages WHO as it promises pandemic review, but China pledges $2 billion

[webfact]

U.S. savages WHO as it promises pandemic review, but China pledges $2 billion

By Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge

 

FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) ahead of a meeting of the Emergency Committee on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Switzerland, January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

 

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Monday an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin as soon as possible and it received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, in the spotlight as the origin of the pandemic.

 

But the WHO's chief critic, the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, decried an "apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak by at least one member state".

 

Trump said later in Washington that the WHO, which he called a "puppet of China", had "done a very sad job" in its handling of the coronavirus and he would make a decision about U.S. funding to the body soon.

 

"The United States pays them $450 million a year; China pays them $38 million a year. And they're a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer, but they're a puppet of China," Trump told reporters at a White House event.

 

Trump has already suspended U.S. funding for the WHO after accusing it of being too China-centric, and at the same time led international criticism of Beijing's perceived lack of transparency in the early stages of the crisis.

 

Health Secretary Alex Azar did not mention China by name, but made clear Washington considered the WHO jointly responsible.

 

"We must be frank about one of the primary reasons this outbreak spun out of control," he said. "There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives."

 

Speaking after Azar, Chinese Health Minister Ma Xiaowei said Beijing had been timely and open in announcing the outbreak and sharing the virus's full gene sequence, and urged countries to "oppose rumours, stigmatisation and discrimination".

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $2 billion over the next two years to help deal with COVID-19, especially in developing countries.

 

The amount almost matches the WHO's entire annual programme budget for last year, and more than compensates for Trump's freeze of U.S. payments worth about $400 million a year.

 

But White House National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot called it "a token to distract from calls from a growing number of nations demanding accountability for the Chinese government’s failure to ... warn the world of what was coming".

 

'LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE'

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the U.N. body had "sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often".

 

When it declared a global emergency on Jan. 30, there were fewer than 100 cases outside China, and no deaths, he said.

 

He was addressing a virtual meeting of the WHO's decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, at which Xi said China had acted with "openness and transparency and responsibility".

 

Tedros, who has always promised a review, told the forum it would come "at the earliest appropriate moment" and make recommendations for the future. He received robust backing from the WHO's independent oversight panel.

 

"Every country and every organisation must examine its response and learn from its experience," he said, adding that the review must cover "all actors in good faith".

 

In its first report on the handling of the pandemic, the oversight committee said the WHO had "demonstrated leadership and made important progress in its COVID-19 response".

 

The panel endorsed a review but said conducting it now could hamper the WHO's response to the pandemic.

 

It also said "an imperfect and evolving understanding" was not unusual when a new disease emerged and, in an apparent rejoinder to Trump, said a "rising politicization of pandemic response" was hindering the effort to defeat the virus.

 

Azar said the United States supported "an independent review of every aspect of WHO’s response" and that China's conduct should be "on the table" too.

 

A resolution drafted by the European Union calling for an independent evaluation of the WHO's performance appeared to have won consensus backing among the WHO's 194 states. It was expected to be debated and adopted on Tuesday.

 

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said the WHO must become "more independent from external interference" and that its role in "leading and coordination" must be strengthened.

 

'OPPOSE RUMOURS AND STIGMATISATION'

China has previously opposed calls for a review of the origin and spread of the coronavirus, but Xi signalled that Beijing would accept an impartial evaluation of the global response, once the pandemic is brought under control.

 

"This work needs a scientific and professional attitude, and needs to be led by the WHO," he told the meeting via video.

 

The WHO and most experts say the virus is likely to have emerged in a market selling wildlife in the central city of Wuhan late last year. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this month there was "significant" evidence that it had come from a laboratory in Wuhan, a charge China rejects.

 

Australian health minister Gregory Hunt said the planned review could look at strengthening the WHO's mandate and powers of inspection, and also how to protect against "the global threat posed by wildlife and wet markets".

 

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Cate Cadell, Gabriel Crossley and Se Young Lee in Beijing and Kirsty Needham in Sydney; and by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Tim Ahmann, David Brunnstrom and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Timothy Heritage and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Mark Heinrich and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-19

 

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[Mama Noodle]

1 minute ago, webfact said:

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $2 billion over the next two years to help deal with COVID-19, especially in developing countries.

 

2 billion over 2 years is literal pocket change. 

 

Over 100 countries also want an investigation into China and the WHO as well, signaling that most people dont trust anything coming out of Xi's mouth. 

 

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

China has previously opposed calls for a review of the origin and spread of the coronavirus, but Xi signalled that Beijing would accept an impartial evaluation of the global response, once the pandemic is brought under control.

 

"This work needs a scientific and professional attitude, and needs to be led by the WHO," he told the meeting via video.

 

Yeah bro, everyone knows you've already have all the time in the world to cover your backside, and now you want to frame the investigation in a way that absolves you, and use the WHO to back you up - meanwhile you have your toadies on social media claim that the virus might have started in the USA. 

[Odysseus123]

Thre was once a proud U.S President who adhered to the maxim "talk softly and carry a big stick" whereas all we hear these days is the noise of toys being thrown out of the pram....pretty much on a daily basis.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Odysseus123

[Mama Noodle]

5 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Thre was once a proud U.S President who adhered to the maxim "talk softly and carry a big stick" whereas all we hear these days is the noise of toys being thrown out of the pram....pretty much on a daily basis.

 

Over 100 countries call for an investigation. 

 

Just a small example of what China does in retaliation for those who speak out:
 

Australia 'deeply disappointed' after China imposes 80% tariff on barley imports

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/19/australia-deeply-disappointed-after-china-imposes-80-tariff-on-barley-imports

[simple1]

trump praised Xi for China's efforts concerning Covid 15 times during January & February this year; refer URL below. The US would have a lot greater intelligence capability than WHO, yet trump repeatedly ignored his own intelligence warnings. The take away is trump is laying all the blame on WHO to deflect from his own errors of judgement. Additional, WHO, does not have the power to demand onsite inspections in China, only by way of diplomatic negotiations. Within a short time of gaining access to Wuhan, WHO declared the pandemic and actions to take. The mitigation requirements by WHO were slow to be recommended by the trump administration, plus setting up the ridiculous situation whereby States were competing against each other for Covid related supplies. Again we have seen trump's constant denials of responsibility.

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/15/trump-china-coronavirus-188736

 

Rather than trump attacking WHO, surely it makes a lot more sense to work with the UN for WHO to gain authority for more actionable authority.

Edited May 19, 2020 by simple1

[smedly]

47 minutes ago, webfact said:

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the U.N. body had "sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often".

 

When it declared a global emergency on Jan. 30, there were fewer than 100 cases outside China, and no deaths, he said.

They're not getting it are they 

 

people want to know what happened for the 8 weeks prior to that, a critical time during which the pandemic could have and should have been stopped, Jan 30th was too late 

 

Everybody is fully aware of what happened as China tried to cover it up while the WHO did nothing, a key witness to those events is dead - how convenient he won't be available to answer questions, no need for Sherlock to figure this one out.

[JonnyF]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

"The United States pays them $450 million a year; China pays them $38 million a year. And they're a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer, but they're a puppet of China," Trump told reporters at a White House event.

I suspect China pays the WHO a lot more than $38 million. It's just that most of it is in brown envelopes to shady Directors in exchange for burying embarrassing information. 

[ezzra]

1 hour ago, Mama Noodle said:

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $2 billion over the next two years to help deal with COVID-19, especially in developing countries.

Now that the demons are out of the bottle it sound like a hush money and "here, take that and remember for the next cock up that we will do who gave you 2 billion dollars"...

[twocatsmac]

1 hour ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Australia 'deeply disappointed' after China imposes 80% tariff on barley imports

Time for free speaking countries to wholeheartedly support Australia and buy their produce.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, twocatsmac said:

Time for free speaking countries to wholeheartedly support Australia and buy their produce.

You know who will supply China with barley instead of Australia, USA. Let's see if trump will take action or not to stop the supply.

[dexterm]

I think China has upped the ante simply to embarrass Trump deservedly.

They are more or less saying, "You withhold $400m to score some domestic political points and allow a private citizen Bill Gates to cover your shortfall, well up yours, toothless tiger."

Edited May 19, 2020 by dexterm

[Eric Loh]

3 hours ago, dexterm said:

I think China has upped the ante simply to embarrass Trump deservedly.

They are more or less saying, "You withhold $400m to score some domestic political points and allow a private citizen Bill Gates to cover your shortfall, well up yours, toothless tiger."

Lots of humble pies eaten comparing $2 B to measly $400. Definitely meant to embarrass Trump. 

[Benmart]

7 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

Thre was once a proud U.S President who adhered to the maxim "talk softly and carry a big stick" whereas all we hear these days is the noise of toys being thrown out of the pram....pretty much on a daily basis.

"We"? I speak (post) in the first person as I haven't a clue of what others hear.

[Isaan sailor]

Back in January, China stopped all flights from Wuhan to Beijing.  Yet thousands from Wuhan flew to New York, Milan, London, etc.  And the WHO covered for CCP, insisting no animal to human transmission existed.

[thesetat2013]

9 hours ago, simple1 said:

trump praised Xi for China's efforts concerning Covid 15 times during January & February this year; refer URL below. The US would have a lot greater intelligence capability than WHO, yet trump repeatedly ignored his own intelligence warnings. The take away is trump is laying all the blame on WHO to deflect from his own errors of judgement. Additional, WHO, does not have the power to demand onsite inspections in China, only by way of diplomatic negotiations. Within a short time of gaining access to Wuhan, WHO declared the pandemic and actions to take. The mitigation requirements by WHO were slow to be recommended by the trump administration, plus setting up the ridiculous situation whereby States were competing against each other for Covid related supplies. Again we have seen trump's constant denials of responsibility.

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/15/trump-china-coronavirus-188736

 

Rather than trump attacking WHO, surely it makes a lot more sense to work with the UN for WHO to gain authority for more actionable authority.

Another trump hater using anything he can to make trump in a bad light. A shame really since America is not the only country devoured by this virus.. So what you are saying is that all the leaders listened and followed trump and so they all had their people in lockdown or dying. 

Surely if trumps staff knew them other countries staff also knew and allowed this virus to spread. Or quite possibly the WHO downplayed the virus for China's benefit or believed everything China was telling them and used less force in their warnings that led the rest of the world to get infected. 

The proof is already shown the virus was known and harsh measures taken inside wuhan and China prior to WHO telling the world to worry. 

This increase to 2 billion being offered by China seems more like bribery money or compensation for the WHO helping make them look like they actually followed protocols and didn't ignore the data that wasn't approved by China's leadership. 

[simple1]

10 minutes ago, thesetat2013 said:

Another trump hater using anything he can to make trump in a bad light. <SNIP>

Incorrect. I posted factual information concerning trump's denials. I couldn't be bothered to read the rest of your post in order to respond due to the nonsensical first sentence quoted above.

[Pedrogaz]

The WHO did a creditable job under difficult circumstances. Trump, meanwhile caused the death of countless thousands by his stupidity and inaction......'it's a hoax virus';

'it will magically disappear in April'; 'take Hydroxycloroqine, even though doctors don't; recommend it'; take bleach or Dettol, maybe you can inject it". 'Where's the PPE?'.....'got none'...'well steal some from another country'.

Two whole, months to do something and he does nothing at all. Now with 100,000 dead he needs to deflect the blame elsewhere ergo China and WHO. 

The man is a menace to the world. I will not say what needs to happen to him.

 

[crobe]

The moral of this story may turn out to be "be careful what you wish for"

An investigation may well turn out to say that in the beginning (January) local officials in Wuhan tried to suppress and hide the breakout, and in particular denied entry to WHO and foreign experts ti investigate the situation.

 

The remedy and to stop that happening again would be to give the international body (WHO or whatever strengthened body would be recommended), the power to enter a country and investigate any facility or breakout without asking the permission of the country in question.

 

The problem is that the country which would vote against this is the US as they would not allow an international body to have such a remit, in case there needed to be an investigation into a "US Facility".

 

So to the supporters of the present US administration - do you think there should be tougher rules to ensure that the next epidemic starting in China could be contained, and do you think these rules should also apply to the US, or is it a case of "do as I say, not as I want to do"

   

[Traubert]

10 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

2 billion over 2 years is literal pocket change. 

 

Over 100 countries also want an investigation into China and the WHO as well, signaling that most people dont trust anything coming out of Xi's mouth. 

 

 

Yeah bro, everyone knows you've already have all the time in the world to cover your backside, and now you want to frame the investigation in a way that absolves you, and use the WHO to back you up - meanwhile you have your toadies on social media claim that the virus might have started in the USA. 

Might well have done.

[bluedoc]

[Mavideol]

10 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Over 100 countries call for an investigation. 

 

Just a small example of what China does in retaliation for those who speak out:
 

Australia 'deeply disappointed' after China imposes 80% tariff on barley imports

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/19/australia-deeply-disappointed-after-china-imposes-80-tariff-on-barley-imports

did you mean that the over 99 remaining should expect same retaliation..... what do you prefer "an eye for an eye" or as Luke 6:29 said "If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also"

[ChouDoufu]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

"The United States pays them $450 million a year; China pays them $38 million a year. And they're a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer, but they're a puppet of China," Trump told reporters at a White House event.

 

we paid more, so the who is obliged to take our side. 

if they don't follow orders, we'll take their funding away.

 

i'm not sure if this is bribery or extortion, or maybe both.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, Isaan sailor said:

Back in January, China stopped all flights from Wuhan to Beijing.  Yet thousands from Wuhan flew to New York, Milan, London, etc.  And the WHO covered for CCP, insisting no animal to human transmission existed.

WHO Covid announcements content and timeline.

 

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19

[ChouDoufu]

if china is to be treated like a great power, they must learn to ACT like a great power.  in the event of international investigations directed at them, they must therefore:

 

*declare the investigating authority illegitimate

*deny funding and assistance to the organization

*refuse to cooperate with the investigation

*impose visa bans, or revoke current visas

*apply economic sanctions to members of investigating team

*apply economic sanctions on countries aiding the investigation

*threaten to prosecute investigators in the chinese courts

*identify family members who may want to travel to china

 

that would be a good start to joining the big boys club.

[ChouDoufu]

2 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

Back in January, China stopped all flights from Wuhan to Beijing.  Yet thousands from Wuhan flew to New York, Milan, London, etc.  And the WHO covered for CCP, insisting no animal to human transmission existed.

i think you mean human to human transmission.

 

in that case you'd want to visit the transcript of their press briefing from january 14.

[xylophone]

19 minutes ago, simple1 said:

2 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

Back in January, China stopped all flights from Wuhan to Beijing.  Yet thousands from Wuhan flew to New York, Milan, London, etc.  And the WHO covered for CCP, insisting no animal to human transmission existed.

WHO Covid announcements content and timeline.

 

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19

It matters not that the above and other credible information is out in the public arena, the trumpists don't like the fact that their "unstable genius" stuffed up badly, causing thousands of deaths.

 

A friend here in Thailand (trump supporter) argued that China allowed 3 million people to travel out of China when they knew everything about the pandemic.......I worry about their "alternative reality" and wonder if it's because they just want to follow their liar-in-chief?

[rabas]

14 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

if china is to be treated like a great power, they must learn to ACT like a great power.  in the event of international investigations directed at them, they must therefore:

 

*declare the investigating authority illegitimate

*deny funding and assistance to the organization

*refuse to cooperate with the investigation

*impose visa bans, or revoke current visas

*apply economic sanctions to members of investigating team

*apply economic sanctions on countries aiding the investigation

*threaten to prosecute investigators in the chinese courts

*identify family members who may want to travel to china

 

that would be a good start to joining the big boys club.

Exactly how the CCP thinks and exactly opposite to how the real Free World operates. They, the CCP, not the Chinese people, have always misunderstood the noise of freedom. It will be their failing to the delight of the Free World and Chinese people everywhere.

 

Best start treating them like the really big third world thug they are. Demand they come clean on their dangerous biolab and military biological research. If not shut them down.

[rabas]

1 hour ago, crobe said:

The moral of this story may turn out to be "be careful what you wish for"

An investigation may well turn out to say that in the beginning (January) local officials in Wuhan tried to suppress and hide the breakout, and in particular denied entry to WHO and foreign experts ti investigate the situation.

 

The remedy and to stop that happening again would be to give the international body (WHO or whatever strengthened body would be recommended), the power to enter a country and investigate any facility or breakout without asking the permission of the country in question.

 

The problem is that the country which would vote against this is the US as they would not allow an international body to have such a remit, in case there needed to be an investigation into a "US Facility".

 

So to the supporters of the present US administration - do you think there should be tougher rules to ensure that the next epidemic starting in China could be contained, and do you think these rules should also apply to the US, or is it a case of "do as I say, not as I want to do"

There are existing international treaties including the US that cover these dangerous biolab facilitates and related military biological activates. China has been warned repeatedly so it seems China is the one on the outside.

Edited May 19, 2020 by rabas

[ChouDoufu]

17 minutes ago, rabas said:

Exactly how the CCP thinks and exactly opposite to how the real Free World operates. They, the CCP, not the Chinese people, have always misunderstood the noise of freedom. It will be their failing to the delight of the Free World and Chinese people everywhere.

 

Best start treating them like the really big third world thug they are. Demand they come clean on their dangerous biolab and military biological research. If not shut them down.

jinkies!  you missed the point completely!

 

this is how MY country responds to international investigations about our exceptional selves and the suggestion of investigating war crimes.

 

i didn't include the (alleged) older quote of bolton telling an ocpw investigator "we know where your kids live" as i don't have a suitable link to a quote of him saying that.

[PaoloR]

56 minutes ago, simple1 said:

WHO Covid announcements content and timeline.

 

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19

The above timeline shows reaction times when nobody yet knew what they were facing - compare this with Trump's inaction (some would say deliberate) when everybody knew what they were facing and who looks an idiot? Perhaps some US citizens should take a class action suit against their own government and it's leader(?). It would have about as much chance as Trump does of making his case against China stick.