President Donald Trump, on Friday, announced to cut all ties with the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the UN body of failing to bring to account Beijing over its concealment of the coronavirus outbreak.
While announcing the measures against the WHO, Trump said that Beijing now has full control over the international body. He added that the United States would redirect the funds to other bodies.
In 2019, Washington remained the largest single contributor by providing more than $400 million. The Republican president, who is also campaigning for his November re-election, has been criticized by experts over his response to the pandemic outbreak.
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According to the data compiled by John Hopkins University, nearly 102,000 coronavirus fatalities have been reported in the US, as of Friday. It remains the worst-hit country in the world with the highest number of confirmed infections.
The US is now terminating its relations with the WHO and directing funds to other global health charities, Trump said at White House Rose Garden. He blamed the Chinese government for wrongdoing and the reason for the spread of the pandemic.
He added that the coronavirus initiated by Beijing had cost more than 100,000 American deaths. Trump said the Chinese government pressurized the WHO to mislead the world about the pandemic at the early stages of the outbreak.
The stand-off between the Trump administration and the UN body started last month when he threatened to withdraw the US funding permanently, citing that international health agency has failed in its basic duty in its response to the pandemic outbreak.
On May 18, Trump said in his letter to the WHO chief that repeated missteps by the agency in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. Later, he labeled the World Health Organization as a puppet of China.
In response to the comments made by the Trump administration, in early May, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said that the US is trying to mislead the public, smear Beijing and shift blame to China for its inadequate response to the outbreak.
The member states of the WHO have also agreed to set up an independent commission to investigate the body’s response to the outbreak.
