After failing to pin the epidemic on China, President Donald Trump has made the World Health Organisation his newest No. 1 target.He has began a frenzy verbal attack against the WHO, accusing it of being pro-China and repeatedly threatening to withhold U.S. funding to the WHO.In response to these groundless accusations, the WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned President Trump on Wednesday not to politicize the COVID-19 outbreak “if you don’t want to have many more body bags”.
During the online press conference this morning, Dr. Tedros called for unity across the globe, and said the focus of all political parties should be to save their people. “At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people, please do not politicize this virus,”
“If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don’t want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it,” he said.He said that unity is the only option to defeat the virus.
"I can assure you that without unity, even nations with the strongest medical system will face more trouble and more crisis. There is NO need to use COVID to score political points. No need. You have many other ways to prove yourselves.”In addition, Dr. Tedros noted that the United States and China should work together against the novel Coronavirus, which is an extremely dangerous enemy.
"The U.S., China and the rest of the G-20 nations should come together to fight the pandemic, and so should all the other countries.""If we don't obey the rules, numerous people will die. When cracks begin to appear at the national and global levels, COVID-19 succeeds."Dr. Tedros also addressed the death threats and insults that have been directed at him.
“I can tell you personal attacks that have been going on for more than two, three months. Abuses, or racist comments, giving me names like black or Negro. I’m proud of being black. I don’t care to be honest ... even death threats. I don’t give a damn.”In fact, the WHO's Director-General Dr. Tedros had become a target of a barrage of criticism from western media and politicians since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The reason is simple. They think Tedros is pro-China because he praises China's anti-epidemic measures.At the end of January, a petition on change.org called for Tedro's immediate resignation, saying that he is not fit for his role. Although the WHO has not done a 100% perfect job in the worldwide response to the epidemic, it is obvious that they have done their best to be humanitarian and fair to everyone. In the beginning of the outbreak in January, Tedros said China had shared information of the epidemic on time. The Chinese government had reacted on time, considerable transparency had been demonstrated by the emergency response.
The WHO declared COVID-19 as a global public health emergency on January 30th, and made clear its opposition to any travel and trade restrictions against China.However, the US. and some other countries still announced travel bans on Chinese tourists. Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic began in the US., criticism of Tedros himself has grown louder. Many members of the US Congress have questioned and criticized Tedros' handling of the epidemic. Some even accused Tedros of helping China to cover up the COVID-19 epidemic and suggested he should not continue to lead an important international organization.
Arizona Republican Senator Martha McSally said that "Tedros has deceived the world.""Under Tedros' leadership, the WHO has been “covering up” for China amid the coronavirus outbreak. And they have been avoiding the responsibilities for failing to contain the virus successfully. Their deception has cost many lives."No matter how hard western media and politicians try to blame China for spreading COVID-19 around the world, Tedros has always maintained an objective and rational attitude. He responded to a flood of criticism from around the globe:"Firstly, no one has covered up China's initial inadequacies in the fight against the epidemic. China has acknowledged on time and made timely adjustments.
Secondly, it is a fact that China has done a good job in the fight against COVID-19 on the whole. It deserves a credit. China has paid a huge price to buy time for the world, and other countries can learn from its anti-epidemic measures." To prove Tedros' bias towards China, even his origins have been seized upon by critics. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 55, is from Ethiopia, where he served as the country's health minister and foreign minister.
Tedros won an overwhelming majority of votes in 2017 to become the first Director-General of the WHO to be elected publicly, rather than through consultations among member states, and the first Director-General of the WHO to be of African descent.Even so, opponents claim that Tedros favours China, which has good relations with Ethiopia.
Whoever have said these things may not even know what they're talking about. There are 194 member countries within the World Health Organization, China was not the only country to vote. So how could have other members tacitly voted for someone who might do China's bidding? Viruses choose their victims regardless of race, wealth or rank. The world is facing an equally severe epidemic.American is the country that has seen the fastest spread of the epidemic, yet has failed to take timely measures.
Can anyone blame this no the WHO too? Since the outbreak, President Donald Trump's strategies have been only too obvious. In addition to diverting the public's attention, anyone who does not treat China as he does, would be seen as his enemy. Even Dr. Fauci, who currently serves as the head of the FIGHT team against the epidemic in the US., has been kept in the dark for not helping him blame China.
Donald Trump, as president of the US., should put people's safety first. Just like Tedros said,"Don't play politics here, the virus is our common enemy... Please do not waste your time."