Speaking at a meeting with members of the British Parliament from both sides of the political aisle, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly asserted that the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was “bought by the Chinese government.”
“This is a political, not a science-based organization, and I talk to our experts… they will tell you that there are pieces of it that work. But when push came to shove, when it really mattered most, when there was a pandemic in China, Dr. Tedros — who was hook line and sinker bought by the Chinese government — I can’t say more, but I can tell you I’m saying this on a firm intelligence foundation, a deal was made … there was a deal-making election and when push came to shove, you’ve got dead Britons, because of the deal that was made,” Pompeo stated, according to The Daily Mail and Business Insider.
After visiting China in January, Tedros lauded the Chinese regime for its supposed transparency regarding the coronavirus, tweeting, “I thank the Government of #China for its cooperation and transparency. The government has been successful in isolating and sequencing the virus very quickly, and has shared that genetic sequence with @WHO and the international community.”
Reports later surfaced indicating that the Chinese Communist regime had not been transparent about the virus.
National Review noted:
On December 30, Chinese doctor Li Wenliang warned colleagues about the outbreak of an illness resembling severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which sparked a pandemic in 2003. Public-health officials rely on the acuity of doctors like Li, whose early warnings prevent the spread of deadly diseases. But Chinese authorities didn’t reward Li; they summoned him to the Public Security Bureau in Wuhan on accusations that he had made false statements and disrupted the public order.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) followed up with numerous other arrests, and publicly warned that it would punish anyone spreading “rumors” on social media. By mid January, Chinese doctors knew that COVID-19 was spreading between humans, but on January 14, the WHO stated that there was “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus.”
On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced the suspension of an extradition treaty with Hong Kong, as the U.K has started to take a tougher position vis-a-vis China.
Pompeo reportedly added:
We talked about how we have seen Hong Kong’s freedom crushed; we have seen the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) bully its neighbors, militarize reaches of the South China Sea and begin a deadly confrontation with India. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the British government for its principled responses to these challenges; you have made a sovereign decision to ban Huawei from future 5G networks, you have joined other free nations to condemn China’s broken promises on the Sino-British treaty, you generously opened your doors to Hong Kongers who … are fleeing for freedom. And yesterday you suspended your extradition treaty and extended your arms embargo on China to Hong Kong itself. We support those sovereign choices; we think well done.
Just after Tedros, who The Daily Mail pointed out “has never practiced as a medical doctor,” was elected to head the WHO, The Times reported, “Chinese diplomats had campaigned hard for the Ethiopian, using Beijing’s financial clout and opaque aid budget to build support for him among developing countries.”
After working as a health official in the regime of Ethiopian Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, Tedros joined the far-left TPLF, which began as a Communist party. He eventually became the National Minister for Health in 2005, then got promoted to Foreign Minister in 2012.
In 2017, Tedros ran for Director-General of the WHO. That election polled UN member states as part of a secret ballot; in prior elections, the vote had been taken by a closed-door vote of an executive committee. After his election, Tedros recommended African dictator Robert Mugabe as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador, prompting allegations that he wanted to reward China, which had fervently supported Mugabe.
The Daily Mail noted, “During the 2017 election itself, several groups within Ethiopia opposed Dr Tedros’s appointment due to his links with the TPLF and allegations that they stifled journalists and repressed minorities.”