Xi pushed WHO to zip it: mag

Chinese President Xi Jinping pressured the director of the World Health Organization in January to hold off issuing a global warning about the coronavirus outbreak, a German magazine has reported.

The alleged Jan. 21 conversation between Xi and WHO leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was reported in Der Spiegel, which cited as a source Germany’s intelligence service, the BND.

Der Spiegel said Xi urged Tedros to “delay a global warning” about the outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China, in December, and hold back information on humanto-human transmission of the virus.

The BND estimated that China’s action to conceal information resulted in a loss of four to six weeks in the worldwide fight against COVID-19, according to the magazine.

The WHO released a statement calling the allegations “unfounded and untrue.”

“Dr. Tedros and President Xi did not speak on January 21, and they have never spoken by phone. Such inaccurate reports distract and detract from WHO’s and the world’s efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement read.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a 30-page article published on its Web site, also disputed the claims in the article, saying it had responded in a “timely” manner and was “open and transparent” about alerting nations around the world about the outbreak.

President Trump has accused China of holding back from the world critical information about the virus, including failing to accurately report on the number of cases. Coronavirus cases have reached more than 4 million worldwide.