Name: Donald Trump was right to abandon funding to the failing, China kow-towing, nannying WHO
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Donald Trump was right to abandon funding to the failing, China kow-towing, nannying WHO

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So loathed is Donald Trump by Western liberals that one suspects he could ban guns, introduce a universal basic income and allow gender self-ID on the census, and they would probably still find something to condemn. Even so, the President’s from the World Health Organisation has sparked a remarkable level of outrage given this is a temporary freeze.This is not to say that Mr Trump’s detractors are wrong to question his motives. The President, a consummate electioneer, is clearly trying to divert attention away from . But even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and Mr Trump is right rather more often than that. In recent weeks, some progressives have seemed more appalled by Mr Trump’s use of the phrase “Chinese virus” than by the CCP cover-up that helped turn the initial outbreak into a global pandemic. Yet the President was right to assign blame, albeit crudely, to China. We should not be afraid to condemn the WHO, which has acted as China’s mouthpiece throughout this crisis.In mid-January, WHO officials slavishly adopted Beijing’s line that Covid-19 could not be spread by human transmission. Only in mid-March did they declare coronavirus a pandemic, even though it had spread globally weeks earlier. While Beijing suppressed genomic research and detained whistleblowers, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised China’s “transparency” and “leadership”.As Chinese tourists travelled freely to cities in Europe, bringing the virus with them, WHO luminaries dismissed talk of . Today they continue to endorse the reopening of wet markets, despite one in Wuhan being the likely cause of Covid-19. What the organisation lacks in legal muscle, it makes up for in soft power, so its mistakes carry grave real-world implications.Dr Tedros , like the virus itself, “does not discriminate between nationalities, ethnicities, or ideologies.” Yet its – denied membership at China’s behest – suggests otherwise. The WHO neglected Taiwan during the SARS epidemic and is now accused of ignoring Taiwanese experts’ early warnings about transmission in order to placate Beijing. Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward couldn’t even acknowledge Taiwanese statehood in a recent interview, turning off his webcam at the very mention of its exemplary response to Covid-19.But the WHO has never grasped the concept of accountability. Delegates routinely vote to eject journalists from their conferences. Tedros stands accused of covering up several cholera epidemics as Ethiopian Health Minister, something he vehemently denies. While the WHO is manifestly failing in its core mission – preventing infectious disease – it remains obsessed with political correctness and petty nannying. On Saturday, Dr Tedros hosted a Covid-19 media briefing . Its madcap priorities would almost be funny, were not the stakes so catastrophically high.It is not the only UN agency to have abandoned its noble founding principles. Elsewhere, Arab states have used UN fora to demonise and delegitimise the state of Israel.&nbsp;Saudi Arabia has a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. Such bodies have moved from being global forces for good to expensive talking shops for Third World states to air their grievances – often against the very Western nations whose taxpayers are forced to fund them.”The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the multilateral order. If the WHO and similar organisations are to survive, they require forensic scrutiny and comprehensive reform.We too should threaten to take our money elsewhere if the WHO proves incapable of . America’s departure leaves us the second-largest donor; cold economic calculus may succeed where Taiwanese pleas have failed. We should start by demanding transparency and the resignations of those who have colluded so disastrously with the CCP. Who is the largest donor? Not China, but Bill Gates. The WHO’s pro-China agitation, despite Beijing’s nugatory contribution to its coffers, should be a matter of much greater interest to Western analysts than it is.Where I disagree with the President is over the WHO’s importance in principle. We sorely need an authoritative body to monitor pandemics and oversee vaccination programmes. But it must never be in hock to a totalitarian regime. Progressives may attack the hoi-polloi for losing faith in institutions, but the WHO’s recent behaviour precisely demonstrates the cause of their disillusionment.Related TopicsThe Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our.You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Find out more.Show commentsAdvertisementRelated TopicsWe rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.Thank you for your support.Need help?Visit ourpage.Close

So loathed is Donald Trump by Western liberals that one suspects he could ban guns, introduce a universal basic income and allow gender self-ID on the census, and they would probably still find something to condemn. Even so, the President’s from the World Health Organisation has sparked a remarkable level of outrage given this is a temporary freeze.This is not to say that Mr Trump’s detractors are wrong to question his motives. The President, a consummate electioneer, is clearly trying to divert attention away from . But even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and Mr Trump is right...

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Madeline Grant

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Donald Trump was right to abandon funding to the failing, China kow-towing, nannying WHO

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