Over the past few days, the U.S. has been piling pressure on the World Health Organization (WHO) by openly criticizing Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for being “China centric” and threatening to freeze U.S. funding.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Xinhua/Chen Junxia)

Some people in the U.S. have also called on Ghebreyesus to appear at a hearing on how U.S. dollars could go to the WHO in the future and requested that the WHO consider removing Ghebreyesus as its head.

The WHO has spared no efforts in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, such as studying the virus at the first opportunity to effectively control it and organizing member countries to implement coordinated prevention and control measures. It has done an excellent job and made notable achievements that should be recognized and praised.

However, certain people in the U.S. have decided to ignore all of this and blamed the WHO for not accepting the U.S. stigmatization of China. They’ve racked their brains to find ways to scapegoat the WHO and undermine the global health system. In essence, their conduct is tantamount to buck-passing and shirking international responsibilities.

The outbreak is the largest disaster mankind has encountered since the second World War. Dealing with it requires coordinated efforts. China, as the first country to report the virus to the WHO, has carried out close and effective cooperation with the WHO, and its response has been lauded by the organization.

Most countries around the world have supported China’s just and reasonable actions, except the U.S., which has hurled groundless accusations against China and threatened to punish the country. The intention of the U.S. is evident—to shirk its responsibilities and pave the way for the rejection of future international investigations.

As the WHO has repeatedly stressed, COVID-19 is the common enemy of humanity, and all countries should act together to overcome it. Ghebreyesus has called on Western countries, including the U.S., the current epicenter of the pandemic, to stop politicalizing the virus and focus their efforts on preventing the virus and treating patients. His proposal has been widely supported and highly appreciated.

In recent years, the U.S. has withdrawn from a number of international organizations. If the country continues to isolate itself from the world and mankind, sabotaging global solidarity and hindering the peaceful development of the international community, its slogan "Make America Great Again” will turn out to be nothing more than a daydream.

Xu Yicong is a researcher at the China Foundation for International Studies.