A planned video call between G20 leaders fell on Friday at the last minute due to an argument between China and the United States. The two countries are arguing about the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the corona crisis. This is reported by the Chinese newspaper South China Morning Post.
According to the newspaper, Washington continues to hold the WHO responsible for lousy action in the early stages of the virus outbreak and demands an investigation. Beijing is strongly opposed to this, according to newspaper sources.
“This is why the video conference was canceled at the last minute.” Both President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump would participate. There is hope for a new meeting in the near future if both parties can compromise.
China thinks the US has halted payments to the WHO to get rid of lousy leadership and try to blame China. The US, on the other hand, believes that the WHO is biased in favor of China and that China should be held accountable for the heavy losses in the US, said Professor Shen Dingli of Fudan University in Shanghai.
Disturbing
“Chinese-American relations have deteriorated sharply, which is worrying. It will get worse in the future,” Dingli predicts.
At the end of March, a video conference was held by G20 leaders. Then they agreed to do whatever it takes to stop the pandemic. Friday’s virtual meeting was not put on the agenda by G20 president Saudi Arabia.
