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The Director Of WHO Loves China Because Of Ethiopian Trade Deals

nickmon1112Apr 10, 2020, 4:39:11 PM
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This is a blog version of something I posted on Telegram this morning. (JOIN my Telegram. That'd be nice of you. Or if you have the $$ to spare? I'd love your support via Paypal too.)

1.) The director of WHO is Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. For easiness sake we'll call him Ted. When it comes to WHO being "in bed" with China, we have ignored a different angle of looking at this from. It's through him. Ted. Ted has a history with China through his work as Ethopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs (serving from 2012 to 2016).

2.) Let's start things off simple. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ted's interests are things like trade relations with China. You certainly heard of the recent fuss surrounding China's Huawei Telecom company? Well, Ethopia was one of the earliest on board to this.

(November 28th 2013) (Reuters) "China's Huawei to roll out 4G service in Ethiopian capital"

--- "The introduction of the service is part of a $1.6 billion deal signed in July and August between the Ethiopian firm, Huawei and ZTE, China’s second-biggest telecoms equipment maker, to expand mobile phone infrastructure throughout the Horn of Africa country."

3.) (January 7th 2014) (Ted's Facebook) "A very productive bilateral #China #Ethiopia meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of #China. Our discussion was focused on the ongoing infrastructure projects: Rail, Road, Energy etc.. We also agreed on exerting more pressure to attract new investment in manufacturing and natural resources development from China and establishing more Industrial zones. #SouthSudan was the focus of our discussion re Regional issues. The Foreign Minister met the two negotiating parties of South Sudan and expressed his committment to support for the successful conclusion of the dialogue"

4.) (May 3rd 2014) (Ted's Facebook) "#China Premier Li Keqiang to start his visit to #Ethiopia tomorrow. More than 10 Agreements will be signed covering Economic, political and Social Cooperation. #AddisAbaba - #Adama toll Expressway will be inaugurated"

5.) The clearest piece of evidence is Ted's love letter to China. It's a joint statement released by both TED and Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.

(December 1st 2014) (Official Chinese Government Site) "China-Ethiopia relations: an excellent model for South-South cooperation"

Ted directly explains to all of us how China sees Ethiopia as a foothold for their African business affairs. They frame it as an interdependent relationship where both sides benefit. "Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1970, and even more following the start of the Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership in 2003, China-Ethiopia relations have developed rapidly."

The economic relationship between China and Ethiopia is clearly outlined. 

Between 2003 and 2013, the yearly volume of bilateral trade between China and Ethiopia increased by more than 13 times. China has become the biggest foreign investor and the largest trading partner of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is now one of the main markets in Africa for Chinese products, equipment, technology and investment. Since 2006, China, through various mechanisms, has provided a large amount of financial support for the construction of a number of Ethiopia's mega projects. These include the first Express Toll Way and the first operative Wind Power Plant, the Addis Ababa Light Track Railway and other modern railways developments as well as the Tirunesh-Beijing Hospital and the Confucius Institute. They are vivid illustrations of our fruitful and comprehensive relationship.

In that quote alone there's enough leverage on China's part to make Ethiopia dependent on the CCP for survival. 

6.) (September 10, 2015) (Ted's Facebook) "Returned from #China early yesterday after a successful visit with our PM. Visited 3 provinces and glad to witness that many chinese investors are very keen to invest in #Ethiopia. The provinces we visited could be members of G20 based on their GDP - all three provinces have shown amazing progress in the past 3 decades. Our main focus was on attracting investment on building Industrial Parks (nests) and light manufacturing industries (birds). Very satisfied by the response from Chinese investors on the same."

7.) (December 5, 2015) (Ted's Facebook) "Under the "Go Global" program of #China, we expect increased Chinese investment flow to #Ethiopia . The 8 industrial parks identified throughout #Ethiopia , some already under construction, will facilitate the migration of Chinese companies to #Ethiopia"

8.) (January 2nd 2016) (Reuters) "China's POLY-GCL completes gas appraisal wells in southeast Ethiopia"

POLY-GCL, a joint venture between state-owned China POLY Group Corporation and privately owned Hong Kong-based Golden Concord Group, plans to drill five wells in Ethiopia’s southeast, including three wildcat exploration wells. [...]  POLY-GCL estimates the cost at $4 billion and initially expected to start LNG production by mid-to-late 2018 at 3 million tonnes a year at first, rising to 10 million tonnes.

(March 7th 2016) (Addis Fortune) "Ethiopia, Djibouti, China Announce Mega Gas Project"

The new 700km pipeline will transport up to 12 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Ethiopia to Djibouti where it will be exported to China. The liquefaction plant will have the capacity to produce u to 10 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year after completion of the project.

INTERMISSION: I'm adding this in just so there's a clear distinction between the stuff from BEFORE Ted became WHO's director...

... and all the stuff I'm gonna mention for AFTER. So. Scroll down.

9.) In August 2017 TED wrote an Op-Ed about how "China can help WHO improve global health" for China Daily. "I have come to China this week to mark an intensified strategic partnership between China and the World Health Organization." What's important to understand here is how it represents the MIXING of Ted's old job as Ethopia's Foreign Affairs Minister, with his new job as WHO's director. "Earlier this year, President Xi Jinping made an historic visit to WHO headquarters in Geneva. My predecessor, Dr Margaret Chan, and Dr Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, agreed on a plan for health sector cooperation. The overarching goal of this agreement is to improve the health of China's people and that of those residing in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. We aim together to build a safe and healthy Silk Road."

10.) (4:32 AM - 20 Aug 2017) (Ted's Twitter) "Back from a successful visit to #China . Signed agreement with Minister Li Bin to increase China's voluntary contribution to @WHO by 50%."

11.) (5:54 AM - 24 Apr 2018) (Ted's Twitter) "A pleasure to meet with the Vice Minister of health of #China. We are strengthening our collaboration, exploring cooperation mechanisms so more countries can benefit from their experience. #HealthForAll requires an all hands-on-deck approach, thanks for your support."

12.) (1:03 AM - 18 Jul 2018) (Ted's Twitter) "With my good friend Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs #China. We strongly agree on synergies between the Health Silk Road, China’s work to raise everyone out of poverty, our joint aim for #HealthForAll & WHO’s triple billions goal. #China-WHO partnership is stronger than ever"

13.) Not entirely damning in of itself when it comes to this DRC stuff. But worth mentioning for the sake of context. Consider it a COMPARISON POINT as to what moments in Ted's career are completely OK here.

-- (9:51 PM - 2 Sep 2018) (Ted's Twitter) "Grateful for #China’s financial contribution to our response to the current #Ebola outbreak in DRC. The new agreement signed will allow us to scale up our fight against Ebola and save lives."

-- (7:04 AM - 15 Nov 2018) (Ted's Twitter) "Pleased to sign a Funding Receipt Confirmation letter between #China and @WHO with 🇨🇳's Ambassador in Geneva, Yu Jianhuaon, for our response to the #Ebola outbreak in #DRC. China's generosity will help to save lives. #HealthForAll"

14.) In contrast to that: I want to stress the important point. TED is NOT impartial as WHO's director. What I'm pointing out here is that he's acting in the best interests for Ethiopia first, and did NOT prioritize for the globe as a whole.

-- (7:26 AM - 16 Jan 2019) (Ted's Twitter) "Pleased to welcome Wang Xiaotao, Chairman of #China International Development Cooperation Agency, during his first visit to Geneva. We had a very productive discussion on strengthening South-South cooperation and leveraging China's Belt & Road Initiative to achieve #HealthforAll."

-- (7:30 AM - 16 Jan 2019) (Ted's Twitter) "WHO & #China have enjoyed a long & productive partnership. WHO is proud to have supported the overseas training of more than 2000 Chinese #HealthWorkers. Grateful for China's commitment to strengthening health systems in other countries through its Belt and Road Initiative"

-- (7:31 AM - 16 Jan 2019) (Ted's Twitter) "Over the past 70 years, @WHO & the Government of #China have had in-depth and extensive cooperation, which has been very effective beyond the borders of 🇨🇳. Focusing on country impact, we look forward to strengthening our partnership at all levels. 謝謝 for your trust, Mr Wang."

15.) So the overall bottom line is that TED of WHO is favoring China because of his previous job as Ethiopia's foreign affairs minister. Ted SIGNED the business deals on Ethiopia's behalf. He KNOWS the political ramifications for speaking out against China. Intimately.

-- (11:10 AM - 18 Apr 2019) (Ted's Twitter) I am sad to say good bye to my friend, Amb. Yu Jianhua, but I am happy for him to take up his new responsibilities as #China ‘s vice commerce minister & deputy International Trade Representative. Thank you for your outstanding support for @WHO. All the best!"

-- (10:30 AM - 18 May 2019) (Ted's Twitter) "I thanked #China’s 🇨🇳 Minister of the National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, and the Chinese government for their contribution to the #Ebola response in #DRC. We also agreed to further strengthen collaboration with the previously signed agreement on the Belt and Road initiative."

-- (10:56 AM - 22 Oct 2019) (Ted's Twitter) "Pleased to sign groundbreaking declaration of intent between @WHO and National Medical Products Administration of #China 🇨🇳 to enhance regulatory cooperation, risk assessment & emergency response, & global supply of quality-assured medical products. Together, for a safer world."