Trump says US to quit WHO, announces mild sanctions against China

US President Donald Trump announced that his country is terminating its relationship with the World Health Org...Read More
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday announced on Friday he is terminating Washington's relationship with the World Health Organisation and imposing a range of sanctions against China for its deception with regards to the coronavirus pandemic and its actions in Hong Kong.

In a statement he read out from a teleprompter in the White House, Trump said he will also initiate a ban on Chinese researchers studying in the US who are considered potential security risks and will seek action against Chinese companies listed in U.S stock exchange whose practices are inconsistent with U.S laws. The US will also withdraw special trade and travel status and privileges given to Hong Kong in lieu of its violation of its treaty obligations with Great Britain, which he said Beijing has now violated.

Trump blamed his predecessor administrations and presidents for allowing China to rip off the U.S. and said he will not allow it. The immediate reaction of critics on both Democratic and Republican sides was the so-called sanctions against China were mostly token and mild. Trump did not mention the tensions between India and CHina.

The US President did not take any questions and turned on his heels and walked away after his statement, although a pool of a dozen reporters sought to ask him follow-ups, including on the situation in Minnesota and other states where black protests have erupted over the alleged murder of an African=American man by a white police officer.

Critics are blaming Trump for fanning the flames of civic unrest by echoing the exact words used by George Wallace, a white supremacist-segregationist-racist – “When the looting begins, the shooting begins” – to convey a strong response to rioting.

In Video:US terminates relationship with WHO: President Trump