Should China be blamed for Covid-19 pandemic?

Donald Trump's decision to suspend US payments to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is all about China. Basically, Trump wants Beijing to be blamed for spreading the virus around the world but is using WHO as the scapegoat because its leader, Ethiopian Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the first African to be the director-general, is perceived in the White House to have failed to take on the Chinese and to have stalled warning of an upcoming pandemic until it was already a reality around the world. Now, bizarrely, Sir John Sawers who was Chief (C) of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 2009 to 2014, has spoken out on BBC Radio effectively backing Trump's view that China should take responsibility for the Coronavirus pandemic. Sir John, formerly UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, may have left MI6 in 2014 but he retains a unique role. When he says something in public you can be sure that he has had the blessing of his successor at MI6 and is putting forward the current view of the UK intelligence services. So, Mr Trump, you may not have the backing of anyone for attacking the WHO and taking away the US contribution of around $237 million from their funding at a time when every dollar counts. But it seems that Britain's intelligence services are right behind you in pinning blame on China. We will never know what Beijing actually did or didn't do in grasping the coronavirus threat when it first emerged in Wuhan in November. There seems little doubt that in the first few weeks Beijing attempted to play down the potential health crisis. The WHO was not informed of the spreading danger in China until December. And even then, relevant steps were not taken by China until it was too late. Chinese New Year celebrations went ahead in January with hundreds of thousands of Chinese flying all over the place to be with their families and friends. So the WHO should have been tougher, much tougher on Beijing, and the Communist government in Beijing should have intervened much earlier. When Beijing did act, the steps were draconian. The city of Wuhan was shut down on January 23 and no one was allowed to emerge from their homes. Anyone who did were confronted by the security police. Trump's decision to suspend US payments to WHO will probably have to be reversed. Congress won't allow it. But the message seems loud and clear: the US and UK believe China is at fault over the pandemic and should admit it. Beijing will never do that of course.