Totally out of the blue, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — unbefitting of his position — on April 8 started smearing Taiwan at a news conference, falsely accusing the nation of racial discrimination.

People with a clear understanding of the situation know that Tedros’ accusation was aimed at shifting the pressure arising from US President Donald Trump harsh criticism that the WHO is only capable of pleasing China, which led to the early spread of COVID-19, onto Taiwan.

Moreover, bringing up accusations of racial discrimination could effectively slash confidence in Trump among African Americans ahead of the US presidential election, thus giving China a helping hand in the US-China competition.

Taiwan is no stranger to Tedros’ constant deceptions that have been going on since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic spread in early February.

The reason that a microbiologist with a doctorate from the University of Nottingham, and whose mission it is to save lives turned into who he is today is simple: The Ethiopia-born official played a leading role in his nation’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative when he served as Ethiopia’s minister of foreign affairs from 2012 to 2016, and he was instrumental in ensuring that the Ethiopian government continued to receive huge funds from China.

Since the beginning of 2000, Beijing has provided more than US$12.1 billion worth of loans to the Ethopia.

China never provides financial assistance for free. The loans it provides requires the beneficiary — Ethiopia, in this case — to put up its national construction as security.

On the surface, the funds are used to build various kinds of large-scale infrastructure projects, especially for transportation, but almost every aspect of these projects — from contractors to construction materials — require that the Chinese government’s advice and instructions are followed.

During Tedros’ term as foreign minister, Beijing helped Ethiopia construct a railway connecting the capital, Addis Ababa, to the Port of Doraleh in neighboring Djibouti.

The railway enabled the landlocked Ethiopia to deliver goods directly to Djibouti’s seaside port, but China’s real intention was to gain control over four East African nations — Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the east, Somalia to the south and Eritrea to the north — in one single effort.

Djibouti is another nation that has fallen prey to the Belt and Road Initiative and the only nation where China has established a military base.

Doing so makes it easier for China to obtain control over the strategic hub located in the center of the region stretching from the Mediterranean through the Red Sea and into the Arabian Sea.

With this context, Tedros’ role becomes much clearer. Simply put, as foreign minister, he did China a tremendous favor by helping it expand its power in Africa.

In return, China supported his bid to become WHO director-general.

Tedros is not qualified for his current position, not because of the color of his skin, but because his intentions have been influenced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ever since he started to collaborate with China.

Taiwan — along with US and European nations, which have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic — are the real victims of the “information discrimination” that has been the result of Tedros’ covering for China’s atrocities.

Vincent Chen is a manager in the information and communications industry and former publicity section convener of the Wild Lily student movement.

Translated by Chang Ho-ming


Source: Taipei Times - Editorials 2020/04/24

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