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Coronavirus blame game: the US, China and the WHO are all keen to pass the buck, but is anyone really at fault?
- US President Donald Trump has made no bones about who he thinks should carry the can for the global health crisis, but is he just trying to shift the focus away from his own mistakes?
- China initially tried to cover up the outbreak but later took extraordinary steps to contain it, while critics have accused the WHO of dithering when decisive action was needed
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As the United States has struggled to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, Washington has been keen to pin the blame for its problems on China and the World Health Organisation.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would halt funding to the WHO while reviewing its role in “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”. He also criticised the United Nations agency for being “very China centric”.
The US has reported almost 685,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 – more than three times any other country – and over 34,600 deaths.
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WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he regretted Trump’s decision but denied acting favourably towards Beijing, saying that he hoped the US and China could “come together and fight this dangerous enemy”.
Meanwhile, Beijing has sought to blame the United States for “politicising” the pandemic, with foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian suggesting the coronavirus originated in America, rather than the central China city of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first identified in December.
Analysts say the US-China pandemic blame game is born out of their intensifying rivalry, while the WHO’s adulatory assessment of China’s response to the health crisis sparking accusations it was trying to cosy up to Beijing.
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