WHO chief lashes out at Pompeo for reportedly saying he was ‘bought’ by China

GENEVA — The director-general of the World Health Organization upbraids US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for making “untrue and unacceptable” allegations, responding to media reports saying Pompeo had claimed the health agency chief was “bought” by China.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted WHO was focusing on “saving lives” as he lashes out at the comments that British media said Pompeo had made at a closed-door event this week in London.

Tedros’ response to Pompeo represented some of his most defensive and full-throated statements yet in the wake of the Trump administration’s repeated criticism of the UN health agency in recent months.

British newspapers reported yesterday that Pompeo said at the London event that Tedros had been “bought” by the Chinese government, an exceptionally personal comment against the WHO chief following the many broadsides against the agency from Washington.

Critics say the Trump administration has been trying to distract attention from its own failings in managing the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, which has the most confirmed cases and virus-related deaths in the world.

In recent months, the administration has repeatedly criticized the WHO’s response to the pandemic and its alleged deference to Beijing. US President Donald Trump has ordered the United States to withdraw next year from the agency it has bankrolled and supported for decades.

— AP