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By Elena Pavlovska
Journalist
Tedros Adhanom (L), Director General of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) prior to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 28 January 2020.
EPA-EFE/NAOHIKO HATTA / POOL
Print
German media revealed that China’s president Xi Jinping in January pressured the director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to hold off on issuing a global warning about the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a January 21 conversation between the two, which cited intelligence from Germany’s federal intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Xi urged the WHO chief to “delay a global warning” about the pandemic and hold back information on human-to-human transmission of the virus, which the BND estimated resulted in a delay of 4 to 6 weeks.
The WHO released a statement calling the allegations “unfounded and untrue”. The Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing had responded in a “timely” manner and was “open and transparent” about alerting nations around the world about the outbreak.
Tedros, a former minister of health and foreign affairs from Ethiopia, China’s chief client-state, was appointed head of the WHO with the explicit backing of Beijing.
United States president Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that the WHO “must have known more than they knew”. According to sources close to the US intelligence community, the WHO was aware of the potential for a pandemic emanating from China as early as in September of last year.
China’s government only officially acknowledged the virus’ existence on December 31 and the WHO nearly three months before declaring a pandemic on March 11.
Last month, documents leaked to the media showed that after Chinese officials secretly determined they were likely facing a pandemic, they warned the public several days later, and by then, it was already too late. In those days, the city of Wuhan hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people, and millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.
Germany’s largest newspaper Bild on April 15 stuck Beijing with a bill for €149 billion for damages inflicted on the country by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to an opinion poll, carried out on May 7 by the London-based Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 77% of Germans think China bears some blame for the coronavirus pandemic and believe Beijing has been dishonest about its infection numbers. 33% favored more distance between the two countries.
Germany is just one of the growing number of countries demanding that China answers for hiding crucial information about the coronavirus outbreak from the rest of the world.
Journalist
Tedros Adhanom (L), Director General of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) prior to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 28 January 2020.
EPA-EFE/NAOHIKO HATTA / POOL
German media revealed that China’s president Xi Jinping in January pressured the director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to hold off on issuing a global warning about the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a January 21 conversation between the two, which cited intelligence from Germany’s federal intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Xi urged the WHO chief to “delay a global warning” about the pandemic and hold back information on human-to-human transmission of the virus, which the BND estimated resulted in a delay of 4 to 6 weeks.
The WHO released a statement calling the allegations “unfounded and untrue”. The Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing had responded in a “timely” manner and was “open and transparent” about alerting nations around the world about the outbreak.
Tedros, a former minister of health and foreign affairs from Ethiopia, China’s chief client-state, was appointed head of the WHO with the explicit backing of Beijing.
United States president Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that the WHO “must have known more than they knew”. According to sources close to the US intelligence community, the WHO was aware of the potential for a pandemic emanating from China as early as in September of last year.
China’s government only officially acknowledged the virus’ existence on December 31 and the WHO nearly three months before declaring a pandemic on March 11.
Last month, documents leaked to the media showed that after Chinese officials secretly determined they were likely facing a pandemic, they warned the public several days later, and by then, it was already too late. In those days, the city of Wuhan hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people, and millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.
Germany’s largest newspaper Bild on April 15 stuck Beijing with a bill for €149 billion for damages inflicted on the country by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to an opinion poll, carried out on May 7 by the London-based Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 77% of Germans think China bears some blame for the coronavirus pandemic and believe Beijing has been dishonest about its infection numbers. 33% favored more distance between the two countries.
Germany is just one of the growing number of countries demanding that China answers for hiding crucial information about the coronavirus outbreak from the rest of the world.