Pompeo Presser: Slams WHO's Tedros Over "Unusually Close" Ties To Beijing, Addresses Controversy Over Fired IG

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo railed against China again over its early failures and coverup of the COVID-19 outbreak, and criticized World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom for his "unusually close" ties to Beijing which predate the pandemic.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Pompeo said that "The Chinese communist party's response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan have accelerated our more realistic understanding of communist China. The party chose to destroy live virus samples instead of sharing, or asking us to help secure them."

"The Chinese communist party chose to threaten Australia with economic retribution for the simple act of asking for an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus," Pompeo continued, adding "That's not right."

"We stand with Australia and the more than 120 nations who have taken up the American goal for an inquiry into the origins of the virus so we can understand what went wrong, and save lives now and in the future."

Pompeo then turned his attention to WHO director Tedros Adhanom, who he says was pressured by China into excluding Taiwan from the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

"I understand that Dr. Tedros' unusually close ties to Beijing started long before this pandemic, and that's deeply troubling."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/pompeo-presser-slams-whos-tedros-over-unusually-close-ties-beijing-addresses-controversy