Trump WHO exit “looking better every day” – With insights from The Wall Street Journal

In SA, we paid a heavy price for the ANC's "anyone but Mbeki" approach with nine awful years of Zuma. In the US, however, such was the mainstream media's disgust for Donald Trump that they rallied behind his presidential opponent and continue to be blinkered to his defects. The Wall Street Journal never fell in love with Joe Biden. It continues to point out his most obvious failings. Among them today's piece on the World Health Organisation, republished below, which concludes that Trump's decision to walk away from the WHO is "looking better every day." – Alec Hogg.Use Spotify? Access BizNews podcasts here..Use Apple Podcasts? Access BizNews podcasts here..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.All the WHO's Dictators.Taiwan is excluded while Syria and Belarus get leadership positions..By The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal.June 1, 2021 6:34 pm ET.President Biden rejoined the World Health Organization as one of his first official acts, and his Administration has vowed to "strengthen and reform" it. That effort isn't going well, as last week's World Health Assembly shows..The annual WHO confab started badly as China succeeded in blocking Taiwan's participation—and embarrassing the U.S. in the process. The island democracy, which hoped to participate as an observer, has one of the world's best records combatting Covid-19 and could spread its lessons to the world..Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that there is "no reasonable justification for Taiwan's continued exclusion from this forum," and the G-7 nations supported its participation. But China, which tries to block Taiwan from all international institutions, prevailed over the Western democracies..Then on Friday the World Health Assembly voted to appoint Syria and Belarus to WHO's executive board, which sets the governing body's agenda and implements its policies. Video of the vote shows it proceeding with neither debate nor objections..These board seats reward Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose regime has slaughtered its own people and bombed hospitals; and Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who hijacked a passenger aircraft last month to arrest a critic. Syria will be represented by Minister of Health Hassan Mohammad Al Ghabbash, who was sanctioned by the U.K. for sharing responsibility "for the Syrian regime's violent repression against the civilian population.".The State Department did not respond to our request for comment on this WHO fiasco, though such appointments have become the norm at United Nations agencies. The U.S. has contributed more than $616.5 million to the WHO since January 2020, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation..But last week's business as usual calls into question how much the Biden Administration can influence, much less reform, the WHO. If it can't make a difference, then the U.S. is paying for an international body dominated by dictators who will assist China in blocking any serious probe of Covid-19's origin. The Trump Administration's decision to walk away from the WHO is looking better every day..Appeared in the June 2, 2021, print edition.

Trump WHO exit “looking better every day” – With insights from The Wall Street Journal

Related Stories

Meet Tshepo Mahloele – Big Capitec shareholder, ABSIP’s “CEO of the Decade” now accused by Holomisa as kingpin of corrupt network

PREMIUM: Making of a great editor – the George Palmer playbook

Premium – BizNews global portfolio: ASML joins – so does Adobe as Bull takes hold again

Alec Hogg: Helen Zille predicts SA choice will be DA or EFF