Stop blaming, join in virus war, China urges US
BEIJING: China urged some politicians in the United States to stop shifting blame to others and cooperate with the international community to jointly defeat the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press conference when he was asked to comment on a letter published on Twitter by US President Donald Trump.
In a letter to World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a copy of which was published by Trump on Twitter on Monday, the president threatened that the US will permanently cut off its funding to WHO if the latter does
not commit to what he called “substantive improvements within the next 30 days.”
“China has chronologically expounded our work of prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease many times,” said Zhao, adding that the WHO had also clarified the mistakes in the US accusation.
He said the US leader’s letter was an attempt to mislead the public vaguely and to smear China, as well as shirking its own responsibility. This is nothing but a futile attempt, he added.
As Covid-19 is still spreading in the US and other parts of the world, unity and cooperation, saving lives and economic recovery remain the most pressing tasks, the spokesman said.
He added that the proportion and standard of assessed contributions are confirmed by all WHO member states and it is a legally binding obligation for all member states to pay their assessed contributions on time and in full.
The US decision to freeze its funding to the WHO according to its own will was a practice of unilateralism and violation of its international obligation, Zhao said.
At this crucial juncture of the global fight against the pandemic, to support the WHO is to safeguard the ideals and principles of multilateralism, support international cooperation and the battle for saving lives, as well, he continued.
He added that China would, as it had always done, support the WHO’s leading role in international cooperation to fight Covid-19 and would continue to support the WHO’s work in various means.
China calls on the international community to increase political support and funding for the WHO, and coordinate global resources to win the battle against the pandemic, said Zhao, adding that the US attempt to use China as an excuse to shirk its international obligations to the WHO is barking up the wrong tree.