China donates additional $30 million for WHO to fight COVID-19

China has pledged to donate an additional $30 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) in a battle against COVID-19. The announcement was made on April 23, 2020.  

On March 11, China had already donated $20 million to the WHO. The organization has been seeking the funding of more than $1 billion to combat the ongoing pandemic that has killed more than 1,80,000 people worldwide.

The pledge for the donation from China came a week after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to suspend the funding to WHO. He accused the organization of promoting misinformation on China’s part regarding the spread of the virus.  

The objective of the donation:

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman of China’s foreign ministry stated that supporting WHO at this crucial moment is supporting multilateralism and global solidarity.

The announced donation aimed at supporting the global fight against novel coronavirus. Its purpose, in particular, will be to strengthen health systems in developing countries.

U.S. criticism of WHO:

The center of U.S. criticism of WHO has been the way it handled the outbreak of the virus in the early weeks of January. The organization supported China’s statement that COVID-19 showed limited human to human transmission.

The experts from WHO who did not enter China until mid-February, later on, praised China’s response to the virus and avoided addressing the performance of Taiwan.

WHO director asks the U.S. to reconsider its decision:

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on April 22 stated that he hoped that the Trump administration would reconsider its decision of suspending the funding to WHO.

He further mentioned that he hopes that the U.S. believes that the investment is not just to help others but for the safety of the U.S. as well. The decision must be reversed after 60 to 90 days for the sake of global public health in the middle of a pandemic.

The contribution of more than $400 million to WHO has been made by the United States in 2019 which is roughly 15% of the organization’s budget.