Taiwan Releases E-mail Showing WHO Ignored Key COVID-19 Warning

Wednesday, April 15, 2020
By Paul Martin

by Luis Miguel
TheNewAmerican.com
Tuesday, 14 April 2020

Taiwan released the contents of a December e-mail the country sent to the World Health Organization in which it inquired about the person-to-person spread of COVID-19, claiming the UN-sponsored group ignored Taiwanese officials and failed to provide proper information about combatting the virus.

Taiwan claims the WHO is minimizing the seriousness and dissemination of coronavirus in order to pander to China, even after Taiwan publicized news of seven cases of atypical pneumonia they discovered at the virus’ place of origin in Wuhan, China.

Asked about the cases, Taiwan stated that Chinese health authorities told them, “The cases were believed not SARS; however samples are still under examination, and cases have been isolated for treatment,” per the contents of the e-mail sent by Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention to the WHO on December 31.

“I would greatly appreciate it if you have relevant information to share with us,” the e-mail added.

Taiwan is not a member of the WHO (or the UN), partly due to China’s successful efforts to keep the nation out. While Taiwan has declared itself an independent nation for 70 years, China refuses to recognize its sovereignty and seeks to reassert its control over Taiwan.

The WHO denies that Taiwan alerted them about potential person-to-person spread of the virus. But in a press release, the Taiwanese CDC said that because they mentioned “atypical pneumonia” reminiscent of SARS (which transmits through human contact), public health officials “could discern from this wording that there was a real possibility of human-to-human transmission of the disease.”

“However, because at the time there were as yet no cases of the disease in Taiwan, we could not state directly and conclusively that there had been human-to-human transmission,” the Taiwanese CDC added.

Taiwan blamed the WHO and China’s CDC for refusing to provide information that would have allowed the government to make a timely preparation for the virus.

WHO continued to parrot China’s talking point that “there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission,” despite Taiwan’s warnings, as late as January 14.

Furthermore, WHO did not call on Chinese officials to share the viral strains that would have enabled an earlier production of diagnostic tests worldwide.

Differences between Taiwan and the WHO are one reason President Trump is considering eliminating U.S. funding to the UN agency, of which America is the single largest financing nation — giving the organization 10 times more than China.

The president has said he will make an announcement on the WHO sometime this week.

Congressional Republicans have likewise said the United States should pull its funding, with a number of House Republicans signing a resolution to do so until WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus steps down.

“The United States’ intelligence community has reported that the Chinese government hid the threat of COVID-19 and, as a result, made it difficult for the rest of the world to respond early, appropriately and aggressively,” said resolution cosponsor Representative Fred Keller (R-Penn.) in a statement. “For reasons beyond understanding, the World Health Organization acted as a silent partner in this effort instead of protecting the lives of millions across the world, including hundreds of thousands of American citizens.”

Tedros, an Ethiopian, hit back at Taiwan by claiming the country’s foreign ministry was involved in a racist smear job against him.

“This attack came from Taiwan,” said Tedros. “They even started criticizing me in the middle of all those insults and slurs. I say it today because it’s enough.”

China was quick to come out in defense of Tedros, even though it was unclear what “attacks” he was referring to.

“China strongly condemns personal attacks and racist words and deeds against WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,” tweeted Xinhua News Agency, the most powerful arm of China’s propaganda apparatus.

As The New American has previously noted, Tedros is a communist member of Ethiopia’s violent, human rights-violating Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPFL), which the U.S. government and the Global Terror Database have designated a terrorist organization. He helped cover up epidemics in his native Ethiopia and got his UN job with backing from China.

Eyes have turned to China’s influence on American and world affairs. The White House recently released a statement criticizing the federally funded news service Voice of America (VOA) for allegedly using taxpayer money to further Chinese propaganda related to the coronavirus.

“Voice of America is a global news network funded by American taxpayers,” the statement read. “It spends about $200 million each year on its mission to ‘tell America’s story’ and ‘present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively’ to people around the globe. Today, however, VOA too often speaks for America’s adversaries — not its citizens.”

From the WHO to the UN to VOA — maybe the lesson for U.S. policymakers should be to stop funding any international organization. Curiously, no matter how good their causes may sound, they always end up acting counter to the interests of American citizens.

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