After the UN appeared to ignore the Greek letter Xi and instead call the Covid variant Omicron, the relationship between China-World Health Organisation is now under scrutiny.
China hawks were furious at the WHO for naming the mutation Omicron’, instead of Nu’ or ’Xi last night.
UN bodies have used Greek letters like ‘Alpha,’ ‘Beta, and ‘Delta to describe variants. According to its website, it was ‘easier and more practical for non-scientific audiences to discuss’.
Its decision to call the southern African variant ‘Omicron” has prompted speculation that WHO skipped ‘Xi to not anger President of China, Xi Jinping.
President Xi, a former Ethiopian Minister who has received significant Chinese investment, is rumored have considerable influence over Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus the WHO director-general.
Tedros was accused of using his position to obtain more appointments preferable to Beijing. This included making Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean dictator, a goodwill ambassador.
Chinese officials have been accused of being aggressive in their influence campaigns on WHO to help them respond to the Covid pandemic. It has also been alleged that UN bodies were weakened before the worldwide spread of the disease in early 2020.
Ted Cruz, Republican Senator of Texas, retweeted a Telegraph editor citing a WHO source stating that Xi was not skipped in order to ‘avoid stigmatizing a regional’.
President Xi may have had significant influence over Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WHO director general, a former Ethiopian Minister whose country is a big recipient of Chinese investment.
China’s relationship with the World Health Organisation is now under scrutiny. The UN Body appeared to have skipped over the Greek letter Xi, and called the Covid variant Omicron’.
Omicron cases have been found in South Africa and Botswana as well as Israel, Israel, Hong Kong, Israel, and Belgium. Although it isn’t known if the variant arrived yesterday in the Netherlands, Dutch authorities have begun sequencing passenger tests.
“If WHO is that scared of Chinese Communist Party, can they really be trusted to bring them up next time they attempt to conceal a pandemic?” Mr Cruz said.
Wall Street Journal columnist Ben Zimmer said: ‘Kudos, WHO! For skipping over confusing Nu and Xi and moving straight to Omicron.
According to a WHO spokesperson, Nu was not used because people might think that the name is a new variant of the original.
They said: “And Xi, because it’s a popular surname, and we have agreed [to]Name rules which avoid the use of place names, animals, and people’s names. To avoid stigma.
An investigation conducted by The Sunday Times earlier this year revealed Beijing’s attempts to influence the WHO’s decisions, undermine investigations, and even place officials.
According to the newspaper, WHO did not publicly question Chinese misinformation and delayed declaring an emergency. It also discouraged countries from imposing travel bans against China in order to safeguard its economy.
According to some reports, officials may have made a deal with Chinese officials in order to soften the investigation into Covid-19’s origins.
Scientists were able to steer away from the idea that coronavirus escaped from Wuhan’s laboratory and came from wild animals at a city wet market in December 2019.
WHO initially rejected the theory as unlikely, but experts believe that there was human error in the laboratory’s initial assessment.
It is claimed that China and the WHO had close ties, which has affected the WHO’s ability to fight the nation over the spread of the virus.
China may have used financial leverage to place its preferred figures in key positions at UN-governed UN bodies such as the WHO and other UN-governed organizations.
Tedros, a close friend of China and a key decision maker at WHO, is the most important. In January 2020, two years before the pandemic started, Tedros met President Xi.
In Zimbabwe there were 130 Chinese finance projects between 2000-2012, some of which totaled hundreds of millions of dollars to construct hydroelectric dams or provide machinery for farmers.
Zimbabwe was one 53 country that supported the Hong Kong National Security Law at the United Nations in June 2012. This law, derided as a crackdown on protestors by Western nations and allowing China to free speech, was backed by the West.
Fellow of America’s Infectious Disease Society Richard Ebright told The Times that China played a decisive role in the failure of the agency to act.
The WHO’s January-February 2020 stance was based on no policy, medical, or scientific reason. This was completely based upon maintaining satisfactory relations to the Chinese government’, he stated.
“Through this process, WHO actively resisted or obstructed attempts by other countries to implement effective borders controls that could have reduced the spread of the epidemic, or even stopped it from spreading.”
According to an investigation, China used aggressive influence over the World Health Organisation (WHO) to control decision-making and sabotage investigations. It even installed preferred officials as part of the preparations for the coronavirus pandemic.
China insists the virus is not from China, however, scientists, politicians, journalists, and others have started to think about the possibility that the virus may have been spread to Wuhan by a biochemical laboratory at Wuhan. These suspicions raise the suspicion that Chinese officials may be trying to hide evidence.
Tedros’ support was a particularly good investment, with a “remarkably high return on the invested capital” when compared to his influence and funds.
An organisation spokesperson rebutted to the claims by saying, “WHO’s top priority in ending the acute stage Covid-19 pandemic.”
The Sunday Times added, “The Sunday Times piece contains inaccuracies. Falhoods. Half-truths. Unsubstantiated Assertions. Willful Distortions. And the intentional omissions of any information that did not fit with the pre-determined premise.
“There were several independent reviews on the response of Covid-19 around the world, which included WHO’s work. These reviews noted the organization’s work and early warnings.
“Frankly, WHO’s highest priority is to end the COVID-19 acute phase. We are helping countries implement evidence-based, comprehensive responses. This includes the use consistent of public health measures, and equitable use life-saving tools such as vaccines.
“In particular, our goal is to allow all countries to immunise health workers and older persons, in a world where only 10 countries have vaccinated 75% of the population.