China to Donate Additional $30 Million to WHO Replacing US Aid and ‘Soft Power’

In the race of claiming soft power and world leadership during the times of COVID-19 pandemic, China is to donate an additional $30 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) to support the global fight against the coronavirus outbreak, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.

Hua said on Twitter: “China has decided to donate additional $30 million in cash to WHO to support its global fight against #COVID19, in particular strengthening developing countries’ health systems. China already donated $20 million in cash to the WHO on March 11.”

Earlier the US decided to halt the funding to WHO

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he is halting funding to the World Health Organization while a review is conducted.

Trump said the review would cover the WHO’s “role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus.”

Source Statista

Trump’s announcement came in the middle of the worst global pandemic in decades and as he angrily defends his own handling of the outbreak in the United States.

Many believe the US looks lame in abdicating soft power to China. The US used to be the world leader in soft power, and now they allowed CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to claim the power for only $30 million.

They believe the United States shouldn’t have easily given up its leadership roles in global health.

The US has been the largest contributor to the WHO before it decided to halt the funding and now China is trying to substitute the funding with its own contribution towards the WHO.