The United States has blocked a vote on a United Nation’s bid for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus pandemic over reference to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Security Council has spent more than six weeks seeking the resolution in support of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ call for a global ceasefire so that the world could focus on fighting the deadly virus.
The United States has refused to endorse the resolution over its mentioning of the WHO and urging support for the UN health agency’s operations during the pandemic.
On Thursday night, the French diplomats thought they had engineered a compromise in which the resolution would mention UN “specialized health agencies” --an indirect, if clear, reference to the WHO -- which appeared to have the support of the US mission.
But on Friday morning, the US switched its position and “broke silence” on the resolution, raising objection to the phrase “specialist health agencies”, and blocking movement towards a vote.
“We understood that there was an agreement on this thing but it seems that they changed their mind,” a western Security Council diplomat said.
“Obviously they have changed their mind within the American system so that wording is still not good enough for them,” another diplomat close to the discussions said. “It might be that they just need a bit more time to settle it amongst themselves, or it might be that someone very high up has made a decision they don’t want it, and therefore it won’t happen. It is unclear at this moment, which one it is.”
The new coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, emerged in the city of Wuhan in December last year, incrementally affecting the rest of the world.
US President Donald Trump has claimed the WHO had failed to disclose or respond to “credible” information in December that suggested the virus could be spread through human-to-human transmission.
Trump has accused the WHO of siding with China and reliance on Chinese data, blaming it for “all sorts of false information about transmission and mortality” that was circulated amid initial reports.
“In our view, the council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19. Transparency and reliable data are essential to helping the world combat this ongoing pandemic, and the next one,” a spokesperson for the US mission at the UN said.
Trump has described the coronavirus pandemic as the worst attack ever on his country while pointing the finger at China, saying the outbreak has hit the United States harder than the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor during WW ll or the 9/11 attacks two decades ago, which led the country to wage two deadly wars against Iraq and Afghanistan.
China believes that the US president is trying to divert attention from his poor handling of the coronavirus outbreak in his country in order to back up his presidential bid.
Trump claimed last week that he had seen evidence linking the virus to a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan and threatened new trade tariffs on China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said there is “enormous evidence" backing the coronavirus-leak scenario.
China has strongly denied suggestions the lab was the source.
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