China Reacts to Trump's Criticism as "Blaming Others for Pandemic Response Failures"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] On the day of the opening ceremony of the World Health Organization (WHO) General Assembly, China strongly opposed U.S. President Donald Trump, who harshly criticized China and the WHO, saying he is "shifting the responsibility for his own failure in epidemic prevention."

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made this comment during a regular briefing on the 19th.

Spokesperson Zhao said, "The United States is disparaging China's epidemic prevention efforts and misleading the public in a plausible manner," emphasizing, "The most urgent task now is to join forces to save lives and restore the economy."

Regarding WHO contributions, he pointed out, "WHO contributions are established by agreement among member countries and are not decided by the United States alone," adding, "Paying the assessed contributions is the United States' rightful obligation as a member country and is not subject to negotiation." He further criticized, "The act of the United States cutting support to the WHO or reducing its contributions is a unilateral action," and "this violates international obligations."

Additionally, Spokesperson Zhao stated, "At a critical stage of international epidemic prevention, supporting the WHO is to uphold the principles and ideals of multilateralism and to support international epidemic prevention cooperation," adding, "Contributions should be paid promptly and support provided to the fullest extent possible."

He also praised the fact that the issue of Taiwan's re-participation was not discussed at this WHO General Assembly, saying, "This once again proves that there is no way out for Taiwan independence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.