Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

''Misunderstanding'', Says China On WHO's Rebuke For Delaying Covid Team

''Misunderstanding'', Says China On WHO's Rebuke For Delaying Covid Team

"Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalised the necessary permissions for the team's arrival in China," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
China on Wednesday acknowledged that there could be some "misunderstanding" between Beijing and the World Health Organisation (WHO) over granting timely permission to experts to visit the country to probe the origin of the coronavirus, even as it gave no indication about when it will allow them to come.

In a rare instance of criticism from the global body, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a media conference in Geneva on Tuesday said, "Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalised the necessary permissions for the team's arrival in China."

"I'm very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute, but had been in contact with senior Chinese officials," he said.

Mr Tedros said he "made it clear" that the mission was a priority for the UN health agency. "We are eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible," he said.

The delay by China to finalise the WHO team's arrival is fuelling concern that Beijing is obstructing global efforts to trace the origins of COVID-19, which has so far killed over 1,870,800 people worldwide after the disease broke out in central China's Wuhan city one year ago.

Answering a spate of questions at a media briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought to downplay Mr Tedros' comments, saying that "there might be some misunderstand on this".

"We can understand Dr Tedros and the WHO," she said, adding that the two sides are "in discussions" to finalise the dates.

"We hope the details can be determined as soon as possible. Hope the WHO can understand this. We always have smooth communication channels. There might be some misunderstanding on this. But there is no need to read too much into this. We have smooth communication and pleasant cooperation. I believe it will continue," Ms Hua said.

Asked whether the delay is about granting visas to the 10-member of international experts, Ms Hua said, "We have good cooperation with Dr Tedros. We can understand him, but if you like to visit other places, you need to talk in advance to the other side to discuss dates."

Pointing to the resurfacing of the coronavirus, she said, "There are minor outbreaks all around the world", adding that Chinese experts and authorities are busy dealing with the epidemic situation at home.

"Still we attach importance to WHO's visit to China and we have been in discussions. We hope through our discussions and efforts we can make decisions on their dates and arrangements as soon as possible," Ms Hua said.

China has been proactively questioning the widely-held view that the deadly outbreak broke out in a wet market in Wuhan where live animals, birds and reptiles are sold. The market remained closed and sealed since early last year.

In May last year, the World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the governing body of the 194-member states of the WHO -- approved a resolution to set up an independent inquiry to conduct an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response as well as that of the WHO.

It also asked the WHO to investigate the "source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population".

On the COVID-19 origin tracing, Ms Hua said China had candid discussions with the WHO.

"We want to help international origin tracing and studies. We are among the first group of countries that cooperated with the WHO," she claimed.

Ms Hua said China has twice invited WHO experts to come to the country for origin tracing and made the Chinese part of global virus cooperation plan.

"In October last, we had an agreement with the WHO on the international experts team members and then we had frequent interactions and held four conferences via video link," she said.

"We candidly talked about our results in origin tracing. Recently we have been adopting a positive and constructive attitude in discussing the origin tracing cooperation with the WHO. Now the epidemic situation in the world is very severe. In China we are also conducting our work to prevent and contain the virus. Our departments and experts are very busy in this work," she said.

Asserting that the origin tracing is "a very complicated matter", Ms Hua said, "To ensure the smooth going of this work, we need to undergo necessary procedures and make specific arrangements and both sides are still in consultations on this."

China on Monday vehemently refuted the US charge that the novel coronavirus was leaked from a bio lab in the country and asserted that the pandemic was likely to have been caused by separate outbreaks in multiple places in the world.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×