China criticises US withdrawal from World Health Organization

China criticized the United States' planned withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), saying on Wednesday that the move will have grave implications for developing countries.

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Beijing was urging the international community to step up support for the WHO, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing.

The United Nations said on Tuesday the United States will leave the WHO on July 6, 2021 after receiving notification of the decision by President Donald Trump, who has accused the agency of becoming a puppet for China during the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump has formally started the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organisation, making good on threats over the UN body's response to the coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump talks to the media reporters. File photo

The United States is the largest financial contributor to the WHO – which leads the fight on global maladies from polio to measles to mental health – but it has increasingly been in Trump's crosshairs as the coronavirus takes a heavy toll.

After threatening to suspend the $400 million in annual US contributions and then announcing a withdrawal, Trump has formally informed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he has started the US pullout, a State Department spokesperson said.

The withdrawal is effective in one year – July 6, 2021 – and Joe Biden, Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent, is virtually certain to stop it and stay in the WHO if he defeats Trump in the November election.

Agencies