President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the United States has decided to terminate the relationship with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Trump alleged that WHO was functioning at the behest of China despite the fact that the US was the biggest contributor of funds to the world body. Trump has been consistently targeting China for its dubious handling of the Coronavirus outbreak and deliberately hiding the timely dissemination of the crucial information related to the COVID-19.
Trump announces termination of relationship with China | 5 points
1. “We will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and directing those funds” to other global public health charities,” Trump said while addressing the media in the White House Rose Garden.
2. Launching a scathing attack on China, Trump accused Beijing of pressurising the WHO to mislead the world about the Coronavirus.
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3. “The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government,” Trump said. He went on to allege that China instigated a global pandemic “that has cost over 100,000 American lives.”
4. In a letter to WHO on May 18, Trump said: “It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world.” He further added that the only way forward for the World Health Organisation was “if it can actually demonstrate independence from China”.
5. The US is the largest single contributor to the WHO. In 2019, it provided more than $400m to the world health body. In comparison, China’s contribution was only $40m.
