BY: CLAIRE KIM
Yesterday, on May 29th, President Trump announced his plans to pull the US out of the W.H.O. (also known as the World Health Organization). Just for some context, the W.H.O., according to Google, is a “specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.” Quality of health care and the accessibility to such services are some of the main goals the W.H.O. has emphasized as a part of their mission statement. The W.H.O. is not a “euro-centric” or “china-centric” organization; it is an organization that consists of representatives from ALL over the world with a passion to help ALL people recover and receive substantial health treatment.
Trump’s suspicions that the W.H.O. is biased towards China’s foreign policy are unjustified both from a lack of evidence and, most importantly, his own lacking character. Just look at the way he handled the coronavirus pandemic in the US over the past few months: immature tweets, no real federal action to mitigate the extremity of the situation, press conferences without the backing of professional doctors or researchers, and a constant belittlement of the Asian community to smear the blame on someone else other than himself. His unapologetic attitude towards the thousands of civilians that are suffering from the coronavirus is truly unacceptable, and his eagerness to spotlight shame on an organization that is actually trying to help the cause is honestly embarrassing.
Even US representatives from the W.H.O. have raised their concerns over Trump’s sudden call for the US to terminate its relationship with the W.H.O..
What makes this situation, however, all the more frustrating is the underlying racism he has towards the Asian population, specifically the Chinese, in all of his actions and statements. While this isn’t presented in the media explicitly, it’s obvious that he bears a strong hatred against the Chinese population as he constantly calls the virus the “Chinese virus” or makes false directions to “blame the Chinese” for the pandemic. He has taken what should’ve been an opportunity for solidarity into an opportunity for him to look down on China, pointing fingers and blaming them while doing absolutely nothing for his citizens.
Trump’s retaliation against the W.H.O. is a clear reminder of his intentions as a president: to criminalize the Chinese population to uplift his own lacking treatment of the pandemic.
How is a man, a president to be clear, allowed to point fingers at an organization for being incompetent when he himself is incompetent? Do you see the hypocrisy?
claire kim. 