Chinese Foreign Ministry defends WHO's COVID-19 outbreak response

The World Health Organization (WHO) repeatedly called on countries to attach great importance to the outbreak and improve preparedness at its early stage, which a recently released WHO timeline of COVID-19 response clearly showed, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily press conference when responding to a journalist's question on criticisms of the WHO for not placing travel restrictions at the early stage of COVID-19 outbreak.

"Since the outbreak of COVID-19, WHO has said it does not recommend trade or travel restrictions based on science and in accordance with the International Health Regulations and repeatedly explained the ground for such decision," said Zhao. "As I understand, in the previous five times when WHO announced Public Health Emergency of International Concern, no travel or trade restrictions were recommended, including during the H1N1 flu outbreak in 2009."

Recently, the UN Secretary-General and many heads of state and international organizations have expressed support for WHO. The UN General Assembly has adopted by consensus a resolution affirming WHO's role. The statement issued by the Extraordinary G20 Summit not long ago also stressed its full support and commitment to further strengthening the WHO's role in coordinating international anti-pandemic action, which also reflected the shared opinion of the international community, he said.

"I would like to point out that the WHO recommendations were made by the relevant committee in accordance with WHO procedures, which also include the opinion of experts from the United States," Zhao added.