Covid-19 is killing people by the thousands at a time and all American President Donald Trump can do is to cut off funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO).
To do this during a global pandemic is a crime, to say the least.
The Guardian of the United Kingdom calls this behaviour Trumpian recklessness. We agree. Covid-19 is vicious in the United States, with deaths at press time reported to be more than 34,000. This is way above that of any country, including the world’s hotspots Italy and Spain.
China, which is at the taunt-end of Trump, has just 10 per cent of the US death toll. The reason is simple: Trump cannot bear very much reality. Despite WHO warning the US of the serious threats posed by Covid-19, Trump chose to ignore the experts. Now that his folly is public, Trump is scapegoating WHO.
Americans’ common foe may turn out to be Trump, not Covid-19. The sooner the Americans realise that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2, is not a reality show, the better for them.
Trump needs to listen more to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, a rare voice of truth.
The Trump-WHO spat may not be about the failings of the international organisation at all. Perhaps WHO was a wee bit more China-friendly than he wanted it to be. But then again, what could WHO do but be China-friendly.
After all, the virus started in China and WHO could not just force its way into a sovereign country. Perhaps the US, which does this all the time, expects WHO to do the same. Trump has a serious China problem. He insists on calling SARS-CoV-2 a Wuhan virus. Long before Covid-19 shook the world, Trump was waging a tariff war in earnest with China, though with an on-again, off-again regularity. To “Make America Great Again”, there isn’t a need to make China “ungreat”. Both can be great if they work on their flaws.
The problem is, for Trump, everything is a zero-sum game. Even geopolitics. And we haven’t even said anything on technology, the 5G Huawei made-in-China headache that so terrifies Trump.
Happily, there are some sane heads around. Judging by media reports, Trump is rightly isolated by the virtual G7 summit (of which the US is the chair) held on Thursday. This is a man the leaders of the European Union and G7, a grouping of seven leading economies of the world, have watched threaten the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and now WHO of fund freeze. And in the most inopportune time.
WHO’s data puts its 2018-2019 budget at US$4.4 billion, though it can do with more. Shaving off 14.67 per cent of this is the unkindest cut of all. Little wonder some have called Trump’s fund freeze a “crime against humanity”. They are not wrong. Fortunately, Europe is on a fund drive to fill the gap. So is the UN. The hope is private foundations, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will hurry to help. According to WHO’s data, the latter is already contributing 9.76 per cent, next highest after the US. China’s contribution is a surprise 0.21 per cent.
Even struggling Pakistan contributes 0.36 per cent to the world health body. A world in crisis needs compassion and collaboration. Not Trumpian recklessness.