Mike Pompeo claims WHO chief was ‘bought’ by China leading to ‘dead Britons’

It is the latest in a string of attacks on the WHO by the Trump administration as tension mounts between Beijng and the West
Mike Pompeo (left) levelled damning allegations at Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the private meeting with MPs
Getty Images/Reuters

The US Secretary of State has accused the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) of being “bought” by China and claimed his failings have led to coronavirus deaths among British people, it is reported.

Mike Pompeo made the claim about Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a closed-door meeting with MPs during his visit to the UK on Tuesday, according to The Times.

Mr Pompeo reportedly described the WHO as a “political, not a science-based organisation” and said the body was responsible for “dead Britons”.

He told ministers his allegations were based on a “firm intelligence foundation” but did not give further details, according to multiple sources present at the event hosted by foreign policy think tank the Henry Jackson Society.

Mike Pompeo urged Boris Johnson to turn up the heat on China 
Getty Images

His alleged remarks are the latest in a string of attacks by the Trump administration, which formally withdrew from the WHO earlier this month over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Trump has branded the organisation a “puppet of China” and accused the organisation of letting the crisis spin “out of control” at the cost of many lives.

However, this is the first time Mr Pompeo is known to have suggested the director-general had been “bought” by Beijing, The Times reported.

He is understood to have inferred that Dr Ghebreyesus’s election to the role in 2017 eventually led to “dead Britons”.

Those present understood the comment to refer to the WHO’s failure to force China to contain the virus, one source told the paper.

The US has called for the UK and countries around the world to form a coalition aimed at persuading China to change course as tensions continued to mount between Beijing and the West.

Mr Pompeo welcomed steps taken by the UK – including a ban on Huawei’s involvement in 5G networks and the suspension of an extradition treaty with Hong Kong – but he said countries needed to work together to increase pressure on Beijing.

The US secretary of state, who held talks with Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said “we have seen Hong Kong’s freedoms crushed” and “watched the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) bully its neighbours”.

“I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the British Government for its principled response to these challenges,” he said.

“We support those sovereign choices, we think ‘well done’.”

But he indicated that more was needed from allies including the UK to respond to the increasingly assertive China under Xi Jinping.

“We think that the entire world needs to work together to ensure that every country – including China – behaves in the international system in ways that are appropriate and consistent with the international order.

“You can’t go make claims for maritime regions that you have no lawful claim to. You can’t threaten countries and bully them in the Himalayas. You can’t engage in cover-ups and co-opt international institutions like the World Health Organisation.”

Mike Pompeo and Dominic Raab held a joint press conference during the US Secretary of State's visit to the UK
Getty Images

Mr Pompeo also highlighted the Chinese government directing state-owned firms to “steal” intellectual property from US firms.

“We want every nation to work together to push back against the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts in every dimension that I have described,” he said.

“That certainly includes the United Kingdom, it includes every country.

“We hope we can build out a coalition that understands the threat and we’ll work collectively to convince the Chinese Communist Party it’s not in their best interests to engage in this kind of behaviour.”

Mr Pompeo held talks with senior backbench Tories including leading China hawk Sir Iain Duncan Smith before his meetings with ministers.

But Mr Raab insisted that the UK Government would not be pushed into a tougher position by Washington.

“I don’t think there is any question of strong-arming – Mike and I always have constructive discussions,” he said at a press conference alongside his US counterpart.

Pressed on Mr Pompeo’s meeting with Tory MPs, Mr Raab said: “When I go to Washington I meet with folks on the Hill in all parties, on all sides – quite right.”

China has warned that Britain will “bear the consequences” of its actions over Hong Kong.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in London said in a statement Beijing had expressed its concerns over the UK interfering in Hong Kong matters “which are internal affairs of China”.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson and Mr Pompeo used their talks to consider “shared global security and foreign policy issues, including China’s actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang” where there are concerns about the alleged abuse of the Uighur Muslims.

They also discussed the importance of the Five Eyes alliance, the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, taking an “ambitious approach to working together on the technologies of the future”, something apparently aimed at ending the reliance on Chinese technology from firms such as Huawei.

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