Quoting a discussion between political scientist Atsushi Iwata and Sankei Shimbun deputy editorial writer Rui Sasaki, this article examines the WHO’s relationship with China, the WIPO director general election, China’s influence over United Nations bodies, and the concealment and shifting of responsibility surrounding the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

August 6, 2020
The following is from a special discussion between political scientist Atsushi Iwata and Rui Sasaki, deputy editorial writer of the Sankei Shimbun, published under the title “Chinese People Will Do Anything to Escape Blame” in a special supplement to the September 2020 issue of the monthly magazine WiLL.
It should be read not only by the Japanese people, but by people throughout the world, especially those associated with the United Nations and its related organisations.
The introductory section has been omitted.
[Quotation]
Sasaki:
The collusion between the World Health Organization and China is also impossible to overlook.
Xi Jinping visited Wuhan wearing a large mask.
There were even rumours in some quarters that a double had been used, but in any event, he effectively declared the outbreak over by announcing that the momentum of the spread had largely been brought under control.
Then, almost as if following his lead, WHO Director-General Tedros announced that the outbreak could be characterised as a pandemic—a worldwide spread of an infectious disease.
Iwata:
It was almost like an echo.
Sasaki:
Might the announcements have been made after detailed coordination?
Iwata:
I believe that this international relationship was one of the principal factors behind the worldwide spread of the infection.
Director-General Tedros is Ethiopian, and a great deal of Chinese money has flowed into Ethiopia through the Belt and Road Initiative.
When Tedros was elected director-general, he received a large number of votes from the African Union.
China, however, was pulling the strings behind the African Union.
Sasaki:
Perhaps he does not realise that he has become a clown—or rather, a sycophant for China.
Chinese investment in Ethiopia amounts to approximately 2.9 trillion yen.
Because of that relationship, Ethiopia has little choice but to ingratiate itself with China.
In international affairs, however, this is profoundly harmful.
Iwata:
While the outbreak of the new virus was being confirmed, Director-General Tedros said that President Xi Jinping possessed exceptional leadership.
I could hardly believe my ears.
What was he talking about?
Sasaki:
Criticism of Director-General Tedros has also been growing within the WHO.
At a meeting held in February, the representative of Thailand said:
“Chairman, if travel restrictions are to be implemented properly, Director-General Tedros should first be placed in quarantine and this meeting should then be cancelled.
The director-general has only just visited Beijing.
Many of the countries represented at this meeting have implemented travel restrictions.
Members have hugged and shaken hands with the director-general.
All of these people have been exposed to risk.”
He continued:
“We must ease the fears of the people and restore confidence in the WHO.
I therefore propose that the WHO hold its meeting in China.
Let us hold it in Wuhan.
Now is the perfect opportunity to visit the Yellow Crane Tower, which boasts two thousand years of history.
Beijing would also be suitable.
There are currently no visitors at either the Great Wall or the Forbidden City, so admission should be inexpensive.”
It was a devastating piece of sarcasm.
Even George Bernard Shaw, the British master of satire, would have been astonished.
The Indian representative seated in the front row burst into laughter, and laughter echoed throughout the hall.
[Give Us Positions in Return for Our Money]
Iwata:
It is all far too blatant.
Had the WHO director-general not been under Chinese influence, the international response would surely not have been delayed to such an extent.
The Japanese government was also affected by that delay.
The problem, however, is not confined to the WHO.
Chinese influence is spreading throughout organisations connected with the United Nations.
Sasaki:
Twenty years ago, China accounted for only approximately two or three percent of the United Nations budget.
Japan, by contrast, was the second-largest contributor after the United States.
China is now the second-largest contributor in the world.
Naturally, it expects something in return.
Its position is: we provide the money, so give us the posts.
Iwata:
A straightforward exchange of favours.
Sasaki:
On March 4, an election was held to select the next director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialised United Nations agency that promotes the protection of intellectual property, including patents and trademarks.
Wang Binying of China was one of the candidates.
Iwata:
A representative of the country that steals intellectual property throughout the world was standing for the post?
Sasaki:
In the end, Daren Tang, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the candidate supported by the United States, was selected.
Before the election, Wang was reported to be leading.
That was hardly surprising.
When conduct is not treated as illegal, votes can be gathered by placing bribes in the right hands.
Iwata:
Had she been elected, the United States trade war might have been rendered meaningless.
Sasaki:
Meng Hongwei, the former president of Interpol, disappeared for a time two years ago.
It was later discovered that he had been detained by the Chinese authorities.
That, too, was an extraordinary situation.
How can the head of an organisation responsible for combating international crime simply be detained?
When a fraudulent state such as China is placed within an international system governed by ordinary standards, distortions inevitably emerge in many different places.
Iwata:
Ordinary international assumptions simply do not apply.
Sasaki:
Japan has long possessed a deeply rooted faith in the United Nations.
Under the attractive slogan of multilateral cooperation, it has tended to restrain itself when it should have been giving priority to its own national interests.
Its response was delayed by its submission to the authority of the WHO.
Iwata:
Was it not China, however, whose initial response was delayed?
Under a totalitarian system, concealment inevitably becomes part of the institutional culture.
Subordinates attempt to hide problems because reporting them to their superiors may result in their being held responsible.
Only when concealment is no longer possible do the facts finally reach the leadership.
Yet even after the leadership learns the truth, it does not wish to accept responsibility and therefore shifts the blame back onto those below.
When that is no longer possible, responsibility is shifted to other countries.
China then says that Japan and South Korea handled the situation badly, or that Europe and the United States should reflect upon their conduct.
That is brazen beyond belief.
Moreover, there is no freedom of speech.
Individuals and journalists are not permitted to voice “truths” that are inconvenient for the authorities.
Under such conditions, it is impossible to formulate policies based on facts.
Sasaki:
They also insist that people must not use the expression “Wuhan virus.”
Iwata:
On March 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian posted the following claims on social media:
“It may have been the United States military that brought the virus to Wuhan.”
“The United States must release its data transparently.”
On the previous day, United States National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien had criticised China for concealing information during the initial response, thereby delaying the global response by two months.
Zhao’s remarks appeared to be a response to that criticism.
The following day, another Chinese spokesman argued that a variety of views existed within the international community concerning the origin of the new pneumonia.
China, he said, believed that the matter should always be handled in a “scientific and professional manner.”
Sasaki:
The Seventh Military World Games were held in Wuhan in October of the previous year.
The United States military also participated, and China has suggested that the virus may have been brought in by American personnel.
Iwata:
The Chinese government’s use of the word “scientific,” however, is deeply suspect.
In Nazi Germany, the claim that Jews were an inferior race was presented as “scientifically correct.”
In the Katyn massacre, the Soviet Union murdered twenty-two thousand Poles, yet continued to insist that it had been scientifically proven that Nazi Germany had committed the crime.
The word “science” is being used for the convenience of those who hold power.
Sasaki:
That is totalitarian thinking.
Iwata:
China may likewise attempt to force the argument toward the conclusion that it has been “scientifically established” that the virus was brought in by the United States.
The United States would naturally refuse to remain silent in the face of such an accusation.
The controversy concerning the origin of the novel coronavirus may therefore continue indefinitely, even after the outbreak itself has ended.
Sasaki:
If one carelessly enters an arena defined by China, one is drawn into the other side’s pace, in accordance with the familiar idea that a lie repeated a hundred times becomes accepted as truth.
It was therefore natural for United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to telephone Yang Jiechi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo and China’s senior foreign-policy official, and lodge a strong protest.
According to Tadanobu Bandō, a former interpreter-investigator with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Chinese suspects sometimes offer excuses that lie completely outside ordinary expectations.
For example, when arrested in the act of shoplifting, a suspect may say, “The goods fell from above and landed in my basket.”
At the national level, Xi Jinping himself has described the outbreak as a natural disaster rather than a man-made one.
Iwata:
I have heard of a similar incident involving a Chinese student.
The student had clearly been absent from the previous lecture.
When questioned, the student said, “I forgot to answer the attendance call, but I was present.”
When asked whether there was any evidence, the student replied, “No, but are you accusing me of lying?”
The teacher said that it was extremely difficult to preserve fairness toward the students who had attended properly.
Sasaki:
Bandō also described an incident in which a Chinese woman suddenly pretended to be dead while being questioned.
She did not move even when officers tickled her.
Several detectives took her to a hospital.
A Japanese head nurse said, “She is only pretending to be dead.
Watch this.”
The nurse twisted the woman’s nipple.
The woman screamed and finally began moving again.
[End of quotation]
To be continued.