China, the index country for the novel coronavirus outbreak, has come out in support of the World Health Organisation and criticized the United States for its move to withdraw from the health body.
The United States officially withdrew from the World Health Organisation on Wednesday after much debate around the matter. President Donald Trump has categorically condemned the World Health Organisation repeatedly and accused them of unpreparedness. He first threatened to leave the body if the body doesn’t take any action against the Chinese and on Wednesday, the country officially withdrew from the body.
Reacting to the decision by the United States, China issued a statement lashing out at the economic superpower for the decision. The spokesperson of the foreign ministry, Zhao Lijan said,
“The move is another demonstration of the United States pursuing unilateralism, withdrawing from groups, and breaking contracts. World Health Organisation is the most authoritative and professional international institution in the field of global public health security.”
He further said that the move by the United States would hurt developing countries who are in need of international support. Earlier, the World Health Organisation had planned to send a team to China to investigate the origin of the virus. While China had rejected any independent probe, it said it is working closely with the World Health Organisation in the research of the source. The virus has killed more than 130,000 Americans and 550,000 worldwide.
‘China Has No Credibility’
On Wednesday, the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Beijing’s response to the virus has an enormous credibility problem. He said,
“I am convinced more than ever that the free peoples of the world will come to understand the threat that’s presented not only internally inside of China, but importantly, that the impact that General Secretary Xi has on the world is not good for free peoples and democracy-loving peoples.”
Former Vice President and Presidential candidate for the election in November, Joe Biden has said that he would reverse the decision of the World Health Organisation on his first day in office if he is elected.
Source: The Hindu
