China warns US cut to WHO funding weakens global coronavirus response

Chinese foreign ministry says coordinated effort is needed to contain Covid-19 pandemic and warns of impact on less developed countries

American Medical Association and other groups also say now is not the time to halt funding to World Health Organisation

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US President Donald Trump’s decision to halt funding to the World Health Organisation has been denounced by China. Photo: EPA-EFE

Simone McCarthy,Catherine WongandSarah Zheng

Published: 4:05pm, 15 Apr 2020Updated: 9:49pm, 15 Apr 2020

China has denounced Washington’s suspension of funding to the World Health Organisation, saying it would weaken the coordinated effort needed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on the US to continue upholding its responsibility and said China had already given the WHO US$20 million to support the global initiative to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“China expresses serious concerns over the decision by the US,” Zhao said on Wednesday. He described the WHO’s role as “irreplaceable” and said its leadership under Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was well recognised.

“The decision of the US will weaken the WHO’s ability to handle the pandemic, especially the nations whose capabilities are not well developed,” he said.

US President Donald Trump announced suspension of US funding to the WHO – for a planned 60- to 90-day “evaluation period” of alleged missteps in its response to the outbreak in China – on Tuesday at his daily White House briefing on the pandemic, one week after first threatening to do so.

The announcement followed hard on the heels of accusations by a group of Republican senators that the WHO had helped Beijing “cover up” the threat of the new coronavirus.