China has expressed its support for World Health Organization (WHO) following the decision of US to exit from the global health body.
Shortly after his inauguration, Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the country from WHO.
The president said US was withdrawing “due to the organization’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
He also said WHO required unfairly onerous payments from US that are disproportionate to the sums provided by other larger countries like China.
Subsequently, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun announced the country’s support for WHO, saying its role in global public health should be strengthened, not weakened.
He said, “As the authoritative and professional international organization in global public health, WHO plays a central role in coordinating global public health governance.”
“China will, as always, support WHO in fulfilling its duty, deepen international cooperation in public health, advance global public health governance, and promote the building of a global community of health for all.”
