I don't dispute anything in the Washington post link you sent, perhaps we are just reading it differently. I didn't think that it supported your position. Here's some of the poignant WHO statements from that article, made between Dec 31 to Jan 20 at the start of the pandemic:
> The WHO is heavily reliant on information provided by countries and cannot fine countries that fail to provide accurate information.
> However, because at the time there were as yet no cases of the disease in Taiwan, we could not state directly and conclusively that there had been human-to-human transmission
> Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses with some causing less-severe disease, such as the common cold, and others more severe disease such as MERS and SARS. Some transmit easily from person to person, while others do not. According to Chinese authorities, the virus in question can cause severe illness in some patients and does not transmit readily between people.
> Based on the preliminary information from the Chinese investigation team, no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission and no health care worker infections have been reported
> Based on experience with SARS and MERS ... protect health workers recommending droplet and contact precautions when caring for patients, and airborne precautions
> At this stage, there is no infection among healthcare workers, and no clear evidence of human to human transmission.
> The way these patients became infected is not yet known.
> based on the available information there is no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission
> Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission
> It is still early days, we don’t have a clear clinical picture
> There is the possibility that transmission can be amplified. Most notably in health-care facilities
> some limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts
> It is now very clear from the latest information that there is at least some human-to-human transmission of #nCoV2019. Infections among health care workers strengthen the evidence for this
So it looks to me like the WHO is in the position of relaying the data they get from China. They said this. They also relayed other very relevant info about the behaviour or other coronaviruses, saying that human-to-human transmission could go either way. Furthermore they relayed new information as it became available.
I don't see any of this as an indication that they were bought and paid for. Do you assume that the WHO could force their way into places the Chinese government wouldn't allow them? That's not how international organizations work.
It would make more sense if you suspected that the Chinese were witholding data. But you haven't provided any evidence that WHO did.
The WHO refuses to acknowledge that Taiwan exists...because of China. A supposedly independent organization that is supposed to be above politics...won't recognize an island of more than 30 million people. Taiwan proved that they knew something was up and did the right thing early on...all while trying to get the word out. The WHO never passed that information on and instead only repeated what China told it...then the US followed the advice of the WHO and utterly failed in it's response.
About 90% of the countries in the world, including the U.S., do not recognize Taiwan, because of diplomatic pressure from China. In China's view Taiwan is a rebellious state that only exists due to foreign interference.
That's not something that the WHO decided to do. The WHO is an international organization setup by participating countries to operate under rules they, as a group, specify and sign onto. The U.S. was involved in this. The WHO can't do whatever they want.
So I would agree with you that it appears that the WHO may not have relayed the Dec 31 email from Taiwan, as per the Washington Post article you linked to. It's probably safer to blame this more on bureaucratic stupidy than malice. But they did have a release 6 days later on Jan 6, with many more releases over the month relaying the information they received, including warnings about and suspicion of human transmission several days later, then on Jan 14, confirmation of human to human transmission.
You earlier claimed that delayed reporting from the WHO "stopped the US from doing any sort of checks of any sort and life went on...all the while the virus was spreading all over the country."
So when did the U.S. first take action? February? March? Are you saying that the delay between the Dec 31 email from Taiwan and the WHO release on Jan 6 made a difference? If so, then why did the U.S. wait so long to react after the reports of human to human transmission?
Do you understand why I don't follow your logic? You seem to be insisting on a conspiracy where I'm not seeing the link between cause and affect that you are. Perhaps you are looking too hard for a scapegoat?
> The WHO is heavily reliant on information provided by countries and cannot fine countries that fail to provide accurate information.
> However, because at the time there were as yet no cases of the disease in Taiwan, we could not state directly and conclusively that there had been human-to-human transmission
> Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses with some causing less-severe disease, such as the common cold, and others more severe disease such as MERS and SARS. Some transmit easily from person to person, while others do not. According to Chinese authorities, the virus in question can cause severe illness in some patients and does not transmit readily between people.
> Based on the preliminary information from the Chinese investigation team, no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission and no health care worker infections have been reported
> Based on experience with SARS and MERS ... protect health workers recommending droplet and contact precautions when caring for patients, and airborne precautions
> At this stage, there is no infection among healthcare workers, and no clear evidence of human to human transmission.
> The way these patients became infected is not yet known.
> based on the available information there is no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission
> Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission
> It is still early days, we don’t have a clear clinical picture
> There is the possibility that transmission can be amplified. Most notably in health-care facilities
> some limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts
> It is now very clear from the latest information that there is at least some human-to-human transmission of #nCoV2019. Infections among health care workers strengthen the evidence for this
So it looks to me like the WHO is in the position of relaying the data they get from China. They said this. They also relayed other very relevant info about the behaviour or other coronaviruses, saying that human-to-human transmission could go either way. Furthermore they relayed new information as it became available.
I don't see any of this as an indication that they were bought and paid for. Do you assume that the WHO could force their way into places the Chinese government wouldn't allow them? That's not how international organizations work.
It would make more sense if you suspected that the Chinese were witholding data. But you haven't provided any evidence that WHO did.