Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said that he supports an investigation into the origin of Coronavirus and the international response to it’s spread after 120 nations joined US President Trump’s calls for an investigation into into the novel Coronavirus pandemic at the United Nations General Assembly.
China had previously rejected a WHO investigation on grounds it was an attempt by the United States to blame Beijing but Xi Jinping in a virtual address Monday, told the World Health Organization’s annual assembly that he supports an international review led by the WHO — once the health emergency ends and pledged $2 billion to the fight against the virus that has killed at least 300,000 people and infected more than 4.7 million worldwide.
Speaking to the World Health Organization’s annual meeting of the World Health Assembly on Monday, Xi said China would support the WHO conducting an investigation, while defending that his country has “acted with openness, transparency and responsibility.”
President Donald Trump and members of his administration have at times openly questioned the existing medical consensus that the virus likely started in an animal and began its spread at a “wet market” in Wuhan, China.
On April 30, Trump said he had a “high degree of confidence” the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, while China released an animated propaganda video mocking the American response.
Trump has blamed China for the spread of the Virus and even accused the World Health Organization of partnering with China to hide the true extent of the disease when it initially started to spread in January. Trump has since withheld close to $400m of US funds to the UN Health body.
In the United States, there are nearly 1.5 million cases have been confirmed and the death toll is approaching 90,000.
The 73rd annual World Health Assembly is being conducted virtually this year, with proceedings scheduled throughout Monday.
