Secretary of State Pompeo slams WHO’s Tedros over “unusually close” ties with Beijing
05/21/2020 // Franz Walker // Views

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo railed against World Health Organization director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus over the latter’s close ties to Beijing. The relationship, which predates the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, “damages the WHO’s credibility at a time when the world needs it most,” he said.

“I understand that Dr. Tedros’ unusually close ties to Beijing started long before this pandemic, and that’s deeply troubling,” Pompeo said while speaking with reporters on Wednesday.

Condemning Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Assembly

Pompeo’s comments came after the exclusion of Taiwan from the World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the forum through which the WHO is governed -- as an observer. This is despite the island’s success in fighting the ongoing pandemic.

Beijing had insisted that Taiwan be excluded from the WHA, describing the self-ruling island as its province. It also stated that Taiwan’s previous inclusion shouldn’t count as a precedent, as the current Taiwanese government no longer recognized the one-China principle.

“The United States condemns Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Assembly,” Pompeo said in a statement.

“Tedros had every legal power and precedent to include Taiwan in WHA’s proceedings,” he added. “Yet, he instead chose not to invite Taiwan under pressure from the People’s Republic of China.”

Pompeo further stated that Tedros’ “lack of independence” deprived the WHA of Taiwan’s “renowned scientific expertise” on the coronavirus pandemic, on top of damaging the WHO’s credibility. (Related: Taiwan’s coronavirus response caught the world’s attention – and the jealousy of a neighbor.)

Brighteon.TV

Taiwan postponed its efforts to participate in the WHA, which started Monday with a focus on the ongoing pandemic, according to Taiwanese foreign minister Joseph Wu.

“After careful deliberation, we have accepted the suggestion from our allies and like-minded nations to wait until the resumed session before further promoting our bid,” Wu said.

Wu also added that his ministry felt “deep regret and strong dissatisfaction” that the WHO bowed down to pressure from Beijing and continued to “disregard the health of the 23 million people of Taiwan.”

With the postponement, Taiwan now plans to push for WHO membership once the outbreak is better contained, Wu said.

Fourteen diplomatic allies of Taiwan initially proposed a vote on inviting it to the WHA, including Belize, Eswatini, Haiti, Guatemala and Honduras.

Tedros, however, said that he had no mandate to offer Taiwan an invitation to the assembly, supposedly because there was “no clear support” from member states.

Pompeo also slams China over row with Australia

In addition to slamming Tedros, Pompeo also blasted the Chinese government over their mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. In particular, the secretary took aim at China’s decision to destroy coronavirus samples.

“The Chinese communist party’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan have accelerated our more realistic understanding of communist China,” Pompeo said. “The party chose to destroy live virus samples instead of sharing, or asking us to help secure them.”

Pompeo also pointed to Beijing’s threats towards Australia. The former recently threatened to cut their imports of iron and other commodities from Australia. Prior to this, it had already raised tariffs on the latter’s beef and barley exports to China.

“The Chinese communist party chose to threaten Australia with economic retribution for the simple act of asking for an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus,” Pompeo said. “That’s not right.”

Pompeo then added that America stood with “Australia and the more than 120 nations” who have supported calls for an inquiry on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Doing so, Pompeo said, would allow the world to understand “what went wrong” in how the outbreak was handled and help save more lives in the future.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

SCMP.com

News.com.au



Take Action:
Support Natural News by linking to this article from your website.
Permalink to this article:
Copy
Embed article link:
Copy
Reprinting this article:
Non-commercial use is permitted with credit to NaturalNews.com (including a clickable link).
Please contact us for more information.
Free Email Alerts
Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.
App Store
Android App
eTrust Pro Certified

This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2022 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

This site uses cookies
Natural News uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy.
Learn More
Close
Get 100% real, uncensored news delivered straight to your inbox
You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email privacy is completely protected.