US President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently end America's funding for and membership of the World Health Organisation (WHO) unless it commits to snap reforms, in an escalation of his attacks on the global health agency for allegedly being too close to China.
Mr Trump on Monday called on the WHO to "demonstrate independence from China", in a four-page letter slamming it for being too slow to act and too accepting of Beijing's statements on Covid-19 - grievances he had also cited when he first froze America's contributions to the organisation late last month.
In response, Beijing called the move a futile attempt by American politicians to shift the blame for their own mishandling of the coronavirus crisis at home, while the European Union put out a statement of support for the WHO.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: "At present, the pandemic is still spreading in the United States and in many parts of the world. The top priority is to unite and cooperate to save lives and restore the economy.
"We advise a few American politicians: Stop the blame game, strengthen cooperation with the international community and overcome the epidemic together."
European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said: "This is the time for solidarity, not the time for finger-pointing or for undermining multilateral cooperation."
In a letter posted on Twitter, Mr Trump told WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: "If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation.
"I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests."
Beijing said Mr Trump's accusations were slanderous and had factual errors. It also pointed out that the amount of fees to pay is jointly determined by member states and was not up to the United States to decide.
"The United States as a WHO member state has a duty. There is no bargaining in this," said Mr Zhao of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
"The arbitrary actions of the United States to cut off funding to international organisations are unilateralist and violate its own international obligations."
America is the WHO's biggest funder and had pledged US$656 million (S$929 million) in voluntary contributions for the agency's latest two-year budget cycle, on top of its assessed contributions - its "membership fee".
China promised US$10 million.
Mr Trump's move came hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the World Health Assembly at its annual meeting on Monday, pledging US$2 billion in international aid to support the global Covid-19 response and promising to make a vaccine a global public good.
Critics said Mr Trump's threats lessened America's clout in the global fight against the pandemic and ceded leadership to China.
Questioning the wisdom of the strategy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace scholar and former US State Department official Evan Feigenbaum said on Twitter: "WHO needs reforms big time. But we're going to take our ball and go home in the middle of a pandemic, without a single ally or partner, and on the day that China pledges US$2 billion and to make a vaccine available to developing countries?"
Council on Foreign Relations president and veteran diplomat Richard Haass said that while there was a serious case to be made against the WHO's Covid-19 performance, the US needed to consult others on reforming the organisation if it wanted to do more than just posturing.
"There is no unilateral US answer to global health challenges," said Dr Haass.
FROM TRUMP'S LETTER TO WHO
US President Donald Trump has detailed his grievances with the World Health Organisation in a four-page letter he wrote to director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (above), and which he posted on Twitter.
BE INDEPENDENT FROM CHINA
"It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organisation is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste."
NOT SERVING AMERICAN INTERESTS
"If the World Health Organisation does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organisation permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests."
FOLLOW FORMER CHIEF'S EXAMPLE
"Just a few years ago, under the direction of a different Director-General, the World Health Organisation showed the world how much it has to offer. In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) in China, Director-General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the World Health Organisation's first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicentre in southern China. She also did not hesitate to criticise China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak through its usual playbook of arresting whistle-blowers and censoring media. Many lives could have been saved had you followed Dr Brundtland's example."
