New York Times title: How the W.H.O. bowed to China
NYT subtitle: As it praised Beijing, the World Health Organization concealed concessions to China and may have sacrificed the best chance to unravel the virus’s origins. Now it’s a favorite Trump attack line.
By: Selam Gebrekidan, Matt Apuzzo, Amy Qin and Javier C. Hernández
Date: 3 November 2020
“On a weekend in February, when the world still hoped the virus could be contained, a World Health Organization team arrived in Beijing to investigate a critical question: How did the coronavirus jump from animals to humans?
Nine months and more than 1.1 million deaths later, there is still no transparent, independent investigation. China did not allow W.H.O. team members to investigate the source or even visit the market where the outbreak began, while W.H.O. leaders, if privately frustrated, have largely ceded control of the inquiry.
Details: Internal documents obtained by The Times and interviews with more than 50 public health officials, scientists and diplomats provide an inside look at the W.H.O.’s dealings with Beijing. China extracted concessions that helped it delay important research and avoid a potentially embarrassing review of the government’s early response to the outbreak.
Quotable: “Unfortunately, this has become a political investigation,” said Wang Linfa, an Australian virologist in Singapore. “Whatever they do is symbolic.” “
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Sources:
- Summary above: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/briefing/election-day-drive-through-voting-pennsylvania.html
- Long-read: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/world/who-china-coronavirus.html
Closing note LO:
Also see my related 21 October 2020 blog: https://leonoudejans.com/2020/10/why-is-viral-disease-still-on-whos-list.html
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