US to terminate ties to WHO: Trump

Team Udayavani, May 30, 2020, 8:18 AM IST

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Friday said that the US is terminating its relationship with the World Health Organisation as he blamed it and China for the deaths and destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe.

Stating that the funding of the WHO would now be diverted to other global public health organisations, Trump announced a series of decisions against China including issuing a proclamation to deny entry to certain Chinese nationals and tightening of regulations against Chinese investments in the US.

Trump also announced that the US will end special treatment of Hong Kong in response to Chinese imposition of new controls.

He said that the US will revise its travel advisory to warn of surveillance in Hong Kong.

“The world needs answers from China,” Trump said in his aggressive speech on a bright sunny day from the Rose Garden of the White House.

The president, however, did not take any questions.

For decades it has ripped off the US like no one has ever done before, he said, reiterating his charges against China.

“China not only stole intellectual property, took away billions of dollars from the US and off-shored the jobs, but also violated its commitment under the World Trade Organization,” he said, adding that it was able to get away with the theft, like no one before because of past politicians and past presidents.

China, he alleged, has unlawfully claimed territories in the Indo-Pacific, threatening freedom of navigation and international trade and broke its word to the world on ensuring the autonomy of Hong Kong.

“The United States wants an open and constructive relationship with China, but achieving this relationship requires us to vigorously defend our national interest,” he said.

Trump alleged that the Chinese government has continually violated its promises to the US and many other nations.

“These plain facts cannot be overlooked or swept aside,” he said.

Observing that the world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government, Trump reiterated that China’s cover-up of the Wuhan virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives and over one million lives worldwide.

The world needs answers from China on the virus, Trump said.