After the suspension of financial aid from the USA, China donates 30 million dollars to the WHO. Last week, the United States withdrew its monetary support for the World Health Organization after accusing the body of “mismanagement” of the coronavirus pandemic.
China announced this Thursday the donation of 30 million dollars to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the fight against Covid-19, to try to alleviate the withdrawal of the United States, which decided last week to suspend its financial contribution.
Washington cut its funding, arguing that the WHO, based in Geneva, has taken too favorable a position towards Beijing.
U.S. President Donald Trump also denounced the WHO’s “mismanagement” of the coronavirus pandemic, which has already caused more than 180,000 deaths worldwide after making its appearance in China at the end of 2019.
Trump’s decision sparked protests from the international community, from Paris to Berlin to Moscow.
On the other hand, Trump’s critics also saw the U.S. withdrawal as a symbolic victory for the Chinese government, which could further increase its influence on the WHO.
“China has decided to give an additional 30 million dollars in cash to the WHO,” Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing, said Thursday. “This will serve in particular for the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic and to support improvements in health systems in developing countries,” he stressed at a press conference.
Several experts warn in particular of a possible increase in infections in Africa, where the number of places available in intensive care units is no more than five per million inhabitants, compared to 4,000 in Europe, for example.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang also noted that China has already given 20 million dollars to the WHO, a figure that seems to refer to a donation made in March.
“Supporting the WHO at a critical time in the global fight against the pandemic is tantamount to defending the ideals and principles of multilateralism, and the status and authority of the United Nations,” Geng added.
Washington was the leading financial supporter of the WHO, a multilateral institution created in 1948, whose operations and missions benefit from credits provided by its member states and donations from individual benefactors.
According to Trump, U.S. taxpayers contribute between 400 and 500 million dollars a year to the organization, compared to some 40 million dollars, “even less,” from China.
After the U.S. withdrawal, Beijing accused the United States of “undermining international cooperation” against Covid-19 and called on Washington to “take its responsibilities and obligations seriously.
Although criticism of China’s handling of the epidemic remains widespread, U.S. Democratic leaders have strongly denounced their government’s decision to cut off supplies to the WHO at a time when the coronavirus continues to kill.
The United States is currently the most mournful country, with more than 46,000 deaths.
For his American detractors, Trump is trying to turn Beijing into an emissary goat to make them forget their misrepresentations at the beginning of the epidemic, minimizing its extent and praising the Chinese reaction to it.
