According to observers the corona menace has badly hit the prospect of what was once seen as an 'easy re-election' chances for President Trump.
"With the outbreak of the COVID-19, we have deep concerns whether America's generosity has been put to the best use possible. The reality is that the WHO failed to adequately obtain, vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion," says Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump ordered halting America's funding of up to USD 500 million annually to the World Health Organization. A review is likely to assess WHO role in "severely mismanaging and covering up" the spread of the deadly coronavirus when it first emerged in China.
The novel coronavirus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province in November, has so far killed at least 1,19,000 people globally, including more than 25,000 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.
"Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. Everybody knows what has gone on there," Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on the pandemic on Tuesday.
Trump and his senior officials have previously accused the Geneva-based UN health body of taking side with China in the coronavirus outbreak that has brought America's economy, the world's largest, to a standstill.
Reacting to Trump's remarks, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said now was "not the time" to be cutting resources for the WHO.
American taxpayers provide between USD 400 million and USD 500 million per year to the WHO, in contrast, China contributes roughly USD 40 million a year and even less, the president said.
"As the organisation's leading sponsor, the United States has a duty to insist on full accountability, one of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the WHO was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from China and other nations, Trump alleged.
"They were very much opposed to what we did, fortunately, I was not convinced and suspended travel from China saving untold numbers of lives...thousands and thousands of people would have died, he said.
The WHO's attack on travel restrictions put political correctness above life-saving measures, he alleged.
Since its establishment in 1948, the American people have generously supported the WHO to provide better health outcomes for the world and, most importantly, to help prevent global health crises, he said.
“The coronavirus crisis has exposed Trump as not being well-prepared and himself as not being a hard worker,” said Matthew Barreto, a professor of political science and Chicano studies at UCLA (courtesy - cnbc.com)
The global coronavirus epidemic, according to experts, has exposed the dishonesty not only of the Chinese
Communist Party but also of the World Health Organization.
It is not only a talk about WHO, many believe the successful staging of Chinese "tactics" has led to
four UN agencies now led by Chinese nationals.
"China had been successful in pressing the world in calling the virus by its species name ‘corona.’ It is nothing but a triumph of its foreign policy. China never wanted that the nomenclature of this virus should carry the name of the country or the province- Hubei or Wuhan, as this would tarnish its brand name. This may result in general reluctance to buy Chinese goods....," wrote Dr. Chandra Shekhar Sharma in 'Organiser'.
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