Although a series of protests may have dwindled media attention to the issue, Covid-19 continues to rage around the globe and is still very much a dangerous global pandemic.
The largest international authority in situations like these is the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, WHO and its director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have received severe criticism for their inaction and inadequate response as the virus that is thought to have originated in Wuhan, China spread throughout the entire globe.
With Foreign Policy characterizing him as “China’s accomplice”, it would be wise for the head of the WHO to ensure to the global society that he is an impartial figure who is working for everyone. However, Ghebreyesus instead decided to give a graduation speech for a Chinese university.
Tsinghua University, one of the top universities not only in China but around the globe, said that they have invited the head of WHO to give a speech to the graduates of its school of Economics and Management. The speech is said to be given online.
The announcement instantly stirred controversy online various sources have argued that the WHO has been friendly towards the Chinese throughout the entire pandemic. US officials have publicly denounced and criticized Ghebreyesus for being pro-China.
The former Ethiopian government official had heaped praise on China and Chinese efforts on containing and treating the novel coronavirus although it has infected millions. He also spoke highly of China’s transparency despite evidence that suggests otherwise.
In fact, the tension between the WHO and non-China members, most notably the US, reached a point where President Donald Trump announced he will no longer provide the American contribution to the WHO worth nearly $500 million each year.
Moreover, Trump actually decided to pull the US out of the WHO saying that the organization failed to properly inform member nations of the dangers of Covid-19. The WHO did, for instance, say that they was no proof that person-to-person infections took place.
Although there is no legal and internal regulation that prevents the leader of WHO from giving his speech, many agree that it is not a good visual after the US left the WHO after the President mentioned that China has “total control over with the WHO”.
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Replaced!