Beijing, Jan 6: An embarrassed China on Wednesday acknowledged that there could be some “misunderstanding” between Beijing and the World Health Organisation over granting timely permission to experts to visit the country to probe the origin of the coronavirus, even as it gave no indication about when it will allow them to come.
In a rare instance of criticism from the global body, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is often accused of being pro-China, in a media conference in Geneva on Tuesday said, “Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalised the necessary permissions for the team’s arrival in China. “I’m very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute, but had been in contact with senior Chinese officials.”
Tedros said he “made it clear” that the mission was a priority for the UN health agency. “We are eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible,” he said.
The delay by China to finalise the WHO team’s arrival is fuelling concern that Beijing is obstructing global efforts to trace the origins of COVID-19, which has so far killed over 1,870,800 people worldwide after the disease broke out in central China’s Wuhan city one year ago.
Answering a spate of questions at a media briefing here on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought to downplay Tedros comments, saying that “there might be some misunderstand on this”. “We can understand Dr Tedros and the WHO,” she said, adding that the two sides are “in discussions” to finalise the dates. “We hope the details can be determined as soon as possible. Hope the WHO can understand this. We always have smooth communication channels. There might be some misunderstanding on this. But there is no need to read too much into this. We have smooth communication and pleasant cooperation. I believe it will continue,” Hua said.
Asked whether the delay is about granting visas to the 10-member of international experts, Hua said, “We have good cooperation with Dr Tedros. We can understand him, but if you like to visit other places, you need to talk in advance to the other side to discuss dates.” (PTI)
