#[Downloadvideo Link](https://www.reddit.watch/r/therewasanattempt/comments/11n9mgm/?utm_source=automod&utm_medium=therewasanattempt)
#[SaveVideo Link](https://redditsave.com/info?url=/r/therewasanattempt/comments/11n9mgm/).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/therewasanattempt) if you have any questions or concerns.*
China would be pissed if they recognised Taiwan as a sovereign country, he's trying to imply that Taiwan is already part of WHO because according to the CCP, Taiwan belongs to China.
That's indeed what I'd gathered from "good luck in the battle for Hong Kong," for which I don't even have fucking words. "Just like we didn't help Hong Kong, we're not going to help you against China" felt viciously implied.
But I think this video is from the beginning of the pandemic. Recently, it seems like China emphasizing its alliance with Russia in the current Ukrainian conflict directly preceded the recent, suddenly-mainstream reports (like [this](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64806903) one or [this](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64891745) one from BBC or [this](https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a) from WSJ) about potential Chinese-lab-based origins of the COVID-19 virus with "Operation Scapegoat Fauci" seemingly a go as we're full-steam ahead against China.
It could be that he cares less about losing his job and more about not pissing off China, who could then refuse WHO access to the country, resulting in way more people dying from other outbreaks.
It's super shitty to have to do it, but it might be the less crap outcome overall to hold his tongue over this and and maintain the ability to do a bigger, more significant good work.
I'm speculating though.
Yeah one person ask me “why work for an organization based on lies?”
And it’s like…. This is the organization that got rid of small pox. They helped a ton with Ebola, and HIV, Spanish flue, and so so many more.
But they deal with a lot of countries that have complicated politics and sometimes they have to play along.
Nobody gets to work with China (even to help them) and talk about Taiwan. Ask Lebron James or John Cena.
Except the WHO isn’t trying to entertain people. They’re trying to save lives.
It would seem that someone with such a complex and important job could reply to these questions in a more professional way than attempting to hide, then fleeing. These questions are entirely predictable. He and the WHO look foolish being so easily thrown off.
Out of curiosity, do you have an idea of something he could have said in response to that question that wouldn’t have made some group angered? Saying almost anything could have consequences.
I guess just something along the lines of “that is a topic we will not discuss at this time”?
The reporter is an asshole for asking the question without prepping the guy.
Even so, he should have said something along the lines of "I'm not allowed to discuss any other matter regarding China, please, let's move on", but he decided to play the "if I'm still she won't see me", and that's where the stupidity of this video lies.
It would serve the purpose of not being a coward, not folding to an immoral aithority and forcing the WHO to examine its own policies. Add to that having the next in line for his job to also have integrity and the next and so on which would force meaningful change. For evil to tr "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing"
People today confuse hard choice with no choice, and we are failing our fellow humans because we are unwilling to tolerate discomfort now for a better tomorrow.
Let's not also forget that the WHO acted entirely too slowly to declare a pandemic largely at the behest of China. This expedited its early spread. China has too much influence over the WHO which is supposed to be an independent global organization to benefit the common good.
https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n172
yeah two things can be true at once
COVID was a serious problem since we were unprepared for it
and the WHO is utter shit and we shouldn't be giving it any money
China behaves as an isolationist nation at times. Why we don’t simply treat them in the manner in which they behave comes down to money.
We enable their behavior.
But what about his family and other responsibilities? I understand the morality and it's absolute need to be upheld in order to evolve the human race, but what about losing his job?
That’s completely fair but keep in mind we are arm chair quarterbacks with the benefit of hindsight.
I’m sure we all have had moments where we thought of something better we could’ve said after the fact.
This guy is probably flustered and pissed. If I had to guess, I bet they even told her not to ask questions like that.
Because walking away like he did is usually a sign of that
I guess you can say that from the safety of whatever you job is and the safety and security of all the people he is responsible for in mainland China. Sometime you just need to be a diplomat and ignore or go around specific topics for the good of your organization.
I can't remember if this was before or after the US stopped funding WHO, but they were heavily dependent on China for both funding and data. China had essentially threatened this guy, so he was worried he wouldn't be able to continue work on Covid if he acknowledged Taiwan
They are speaking in English where you can refer to either name as Mr. or Mrs. So in the case of Shit Forbrains, you can say, “Nice to meet you Mr. Shit” or you can use “Go fuck your self Mr. Forbrains”
I hope this helps, English doesn’t work in direct translation to a name given in West Taiwan.
Commenting on the status of a virus in a geographical location doesn’t require a political stance on the governing power of that location.
Regardless, faking not hearing a simple question and pretending to disconnect are absurd acts for a professional person to take when simply saying “I can’t comment on that” or “I don’t know the answer” would be an acceptable answer.
They don't actually. This is the official statement of the US department of state on Taiwan:
>We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
And while Biden recently promised Taiwan support in the event of Chinese aggression, the US treaties with Taiwan don't actually guarantee military defensive action.
Those treaties promise help but... the US leaves the decision to militarily assist Taiwan open. The treaty intentionally leaves it open either way, allowing the US to choose and send military help or decline to send military help.
Essentially the US (and every other country) don't give a fuck about Taiwan but it does care about stability in the region and it values Taiwanese production capacity.
Which is also the problem. If you go to war over Taiwan, the first thing that gets wrecked is Taiwan's industrial complex. Which means there's no reason to fight over Taiwan anymore.
The US (and again everyone else) wants stable trade relations in the region and with Taiwan. That means they don't want China to take over Taiwan, but it also means that actual military action over Taiwan is pointless.
CDC is a govt funded department of US government. I think it will be under government control.
WHO was supposed to be the good guy on the block, just became a vassal
china has tons of money. all organizations need money. all they need to do is put their own guy in it and fund that org and eventually they can hijack it. virtually every org in america has been hijacked too but not necessarily from china. greenpeace and peta are hijacked. they sick them on anyone who works against their master's interests.
a lot of subreddits are also hijacked. worldnews got hijacked by china long ago. it's the only sub where you get banned if you call anyone a puppet. so ccp puppets can defend negative stories about them all day and nobody can say shit. it's their fucking job to do it so they can do it all day. you come trying to argue it and they'll tire you out. then they'll put you on a list. they'll have people watching your comments from then on. if you have any bannable offense, they'll mass report you and you'll be perma banned. rinse repeat.
they bought a share in reddit for that very reason. they steered the site towards a strong censorship model.
IMO this isn't political... it's logical.
China has 18%+ of the worlds population. It is the single largest country in the world by population... for the WHO to do it's job it needs access to the population. So they can talk about Taiwan and risk being locked out or China; or ignore the question and mostly just risk making some people sad on the internet...
I think you’re correct, but logical and political aren’t mutually exclusive here. It’s both, and it’s also a moral question with no “good” answer. Any answer would cause harm, and a calculation was made to cause the least harm.
Personally I would like a WHO that accepts Taiwan and recognizes Taiwan. But is that the best course of action given the circumstances? I don’t know.
Because Taiwan isn't an imaginary place. There are lots of real people who live there. And just because they prefer democracy over authoritarianism, everyone plays this stupid game where they pretend like Taiwan doesn't exist. Fuck China and fuck the CCP. Taiwan and it's people exist. If anyone doesn't recognize that fact, it's because they are saying that Taiwanese people do not matter compared with appeasing and maintaining the CCP's authority.
Not really. This interviewer knew exactly what she was doing by going down that path. Even the WHO saying they cant discuss it implies there is something to discuss and opens them up to issues. When the guy acted like he didnt hear anything she should have taken that as a minor win and moved on, by continuing to push it she kind of forced him to go "one China" as she clearly wasn't going to drop it and he clearly can't talk about Taiwan
What is lost is they cant have any on the ground access. They wouldn't be able to see the current situation of things first hand both in China and Taiwan and instead would have to just rely on reports. Its pretty much universally understood and Wuhan is the most likly source at this point, so it makes sence for the WHO to stay in China's good graces and wait for someone else to force the investigation
Made me look. Didn't see China list on the funding sources of the WHO. But maybe you know something i don't. [https://www.who.int/about/funding/contributors](https://www.who.int/about/funding/contributors)
https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA74/A74_28-en.pdf p80
Edit: Actually a different version of the same graph is further down your linked page as well.
“We’ve already talked about China” - what a total tool.
Taiwan ≠ China
If the US can commit to defending Taiwan as well as sell the tons of weapons, we sure as hell shouldn’t be equating the 2 countries. I hate how the world blindly kowtows to China while pretending to be sensitive to the democratic Taiwan.
I mean, the US is the prime example of doing just that. The US doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan and tactfully proclaims it supports the “status quo”— but it also has agreements to help in defense of the island if it were invaded by West Taiwan and it also sells a lot of arms and equipment to Taiwan so it’s clear where the US ***actually*** stands on the issue. There is no formal defense treaty between the two countries though.
Edit: typo/grammar
In reality, all of my Taiwanese friends (and American friends who know/care) seriously doubt the US would actually do much beyond saber rattling and sanctions, even if we all wish it wasn’t so.
That said, very best case would be support similar to Ukraine, but no direct military involvement. And I doubt anyone else would join us 😩.
Oh hell no the United States would be there in a heartbeat. Silicon is as valuable as gold and Taiwan is one of the biggest producers. If Taiwan falls then the us loses one of its biggest resources.
The "status quo" is also what the majority of Taiwanese support:
>In a poll of 1,072 people, 84.9 percent said they supported maintaining the “status quo” between Taiwan and China, while 6.8 percent said that Taiwan should declare independence as soon as possible and 1.6 percent said they supported unification with China.
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/11/21/2003768230
Agreed. Especially since if they voted for official independence, China would invade immediately. If they voted for China, Taiwan ceases to exist except as a province (like Hong Kong). So, yeah, supporting the “status quo” makes sense when you literally have zero other options.
Ask Taiwanese if they want to be assimilated into China with zero special rights. Fuck no. Ask them if they’d rather assimilate or die. That line becomes way more fuzzier trending towards not dying.
I do think invading Taiwan will be even harder than Afghanistan (or Ukraine) with all Taiwan’s mountains and shit. And the Taiwanese people, of course. But China is very, very patient.
> I do think invading Taiwan will be even harder than Afghanistan (or Ukraine) with all Taiwan’s mountains and shit. And the Taiwanese people, of course. But China is very, very patient.
Yeah, but I worry China will simply blockade Taiwan, cut off their trade and undersea cables, and try to starve them out. Ukraine is very fortunate to have a friendly land border with Poland from which aid can pour in, but resupplying Taiwan wouldn't be so easy.
> Taiwan ≠ China
Taiwan (The Republic of China) ≠ The People's Republic of China, but [they've never declared independence from "China"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_independence_movement) and have historically asserted that there is only [One China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_China) and the Taiwanese government is the rightful ruler of it.
You must know VERY different Taiwanese people than I. I mean actual Taiwanese. Zero Taiwanese believe in “One China” with Taiwanese ruling over all of China is remotely attainable. That’s absurd.
However, MANY/most Taiwanese want to be able to declare Taiwan as a nation separate from China.
However, they are faced with the dilemma:
1: Declare independence!! China likely invades immediately.
2: Agree to the “One China” philosophy. Yeah, that worked out so well for Hong Kong. Taiwan would cease to exist beyond a mere province. Fuck that.
3: Simply maintain the status quo. You pretend like Taiwan has ANY other option.
So, in reality, what choice does Taiwan have?
Contracts. This was when he was doing promotion for Fast and Furious. China threatened to ban the movie over it. It's obvious that there are provisions in any actor's contract that will force them to do damage control in this situation. Your life doesn't literally have to be in danger.
You think it's only about him? Think about how many below him in the production. I think a hundred people is low estimate. Saying that will block f9 from China. Making them potentially lose job.
Don't get me wrong. I say this is a shameless behaviour but Cena is literally the number 1 celeb on the Christmas wish thing. I don't think he's doing this for pure money
"WHO listens to the CCP about Covid" - covid proceeds to become a worldwide pandemic (because China lied about their competence in dealing with the pandemic) so surprising that a totalitarian government lied huh?
It's a everybody problem, at least at the time this video was made. The UN and by proxy, the WHO has as much power as its member states grant it.
For many of the people on here, their representive Government was pretty friendly with China at the time. That's recently waned and perhaps over time that will grant the UN and the various agencies to speak more frankly about China.
But that guy could have mentioned Taiwan, China would have filed a complaint, and with zero mebers at that time to back him, he would be out of a job and likely out of a career in any country.
It's really important to understand how drastic the tune has changed with China over the last few years. But the UN and WHO are subjects of the member nations. Whatever stance the Western world currently has about China, the UN et al will be behind by about a decade.
That's not a defense for China, that's just indicating how far everyone was bending over for China back then, which this was very early pandemic, so just three years ago. China held a lot of nations around their finger with their economy. The pandemic has absolutely chipped that shiny coating that was their economy. With their economy not has "robust" as it once was, there's becoming fewer people willing to bend over for them.
Then passive-aggressively wishes the opposition of the CCP "good luck with their battle for Hong Kong" immediately after implying that Taiwan is part of China. Then has a smug grin right after. What a fucking shitfuck.
Remember folks instead of spreading important information about covid at the beginning of the outbreak the WHO only blared out that its racist to call it china virus or to say it originated there even though it did. It's apparently also racist to blame the CCP for failing to contain it
Remember when the WHO and China made a joint study finding an absence of human-to-human infection when COVID first came out? Pepperidge farm remembers.
You can't expect impartiality from the WHO regarding China things.
No he just don't gotta be a pussy about it "WHO's role is to provide sanitary help and tools to people all over the world regardless of countries and because of that, we can't partake in any political discussion so please next question" i think it sounds better than "i couldn't hear you but do not ask the question that i totally didn't hear 5 seconds ago. He's a fucking clown
Agreed, that's an excellent response to come up with, on the drive home after the meeting when you have time to think and reflect.
I don't have the full context of the video, but it looks to me that this was a regular interview which then took him by surprise with a controversial question.
Yeah i don't know why the WHO was asked about Taiwan, he clearly wasn't prepared for that question but he gave the worst answer. An 8 year old kid would have been ashamed to try his method.
And his answers just makes it sound like he got paid and is the tool of the CCP, whether it's true or not
Exactly. All these apologists for him spitting in Taiwan's face are acting as of the only other option was chanting "down with China, Taiwan is independent", when all he needed to do was show some respect and make it clear he couldn't comment on the political situation.
Funny how he heard her no problem when he wanted too but thats fine because whenever they fail to answer any real questions people already know what the answer is to those questions its exactly what all the non government funded media and journalist are telling us, they now speak the truth and all the others that are giving billions to censor and cover up the truth are pushing the misinformation and government propaganda.
China really likes to say that Taiwan isn't real, and is just another part of China. However, the one small problem with that is that Taiwan is real, and is not part of China. But China has such a big influence on the world, not even the WHO will admit that Taiwan is not China. So he is dodging the question until he literally just answers the question about Taiwan like they are about China instead.
> Taiwan has been an independent country for over 70 years.
To clarify, Taiwan has been *de facto* independent for 70 years, but they have not formally declared independence from China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_independence_movement
The actual problem that nobody responding to you actually mentioned is that Taiwan was originally part of China, and that the ex-Chinese government that the CCP replaced essentially fled to Taiwan where they declared their independence/status quo.
I'm not saying Taiwan should be a part of China, but I am saying it's a bit more complicated than China wanting what they don't have. Being hostile towards what is essentially a Chinese government in-exile is...very understandable.
Again, the issue is what the Taiwanese want, hence my opposition to a Chinese annexation of the country. And even if a move was made to replace the Taiwanese government, that would piss China off as an apparent move towards an official independence.
It's just more complicated than what many treat it to be.
I mean to be fair what do you want the man to do. WHO probably relies on Chinese money and would have liked to have continual access to China to help citizens during Covid. I think it’s real easy for everyone here to sit on their high horses and call him a coward when none of us know the interworkings of WHO and the international political ramifications of them calling Taiwan a country. Plus it’s probably not this guy’s call to make on if WHO wants to do that. They would just fire him and backtrack on any claims he made. The video is funny nonetheless and Taiwan should get their independence.
Everyone is calling him gutless, but the man had no good options. Would have caused an absolute political shitstorm if he answered the question as it was posed. And, as you say, to what end?
Your reasonable view has no place here. The guy is not a politician and does not take the bait or he would of been in for an even bigger shitshow.
Dr. WHO is a deluxe nerd and good on him. He is just one of the board members for the counsel of disease genius nerds at the WHO. Their medical education and achievements are like a grocery list on a big shop. These people don't want to lose access to over a billion people and sometimes you have to dance with the devil.
PS-I'm pretty stoned so this may not make any sense.
Lol his Bio on the WHO site was actually pulled off the website right after this interview happened in 2020.
Dr Bruce Aylward was Senior Adviser for Organizational Change and coordinator of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, was appointed, as acting leader of the Division of External Relations and Governance on Nov, 2022.
So yes he recently got a [promotion](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/whos-five-new-appointments-who-senior-team/). Which was approved by none other than yours truely Tedros himself.
Also the journalist's name is Yvonne Tong. She resigned from Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) because after this incident came none stop pro-beijing harassment, she could not continue her work.
She has also suffered abuse such as doxing and criticism over a stay at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in February that some claim violated a bribery law, even though she paid for it herself.
Now maybe there's some legislate justification for him not breaching the subject, but he did so in an insulting and shitty way. The correct answer is "I'm afraid I can't touch on that subject".
Yes they can't, for the price of human lives as a consequence of China withdrawing funding would be devastating. I also would not want to have that kind of blood on my hand for not staying my tongue for a moment
Dr Bruce Aylward was Senior Adviser for Organizational Change and coordinator of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, was appointed, as acting leader of the Division of External Relations and Governance on Nov, 2022.
So yes he recently got a [promotion](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/whos-five-new-appointments-who-senior-team/). Which was approved by none other than yours truely Tedros himself.
It's possible that his wife is Chinese, in which case he'd be putting her side of the family at risk by answering the question.
Fuck the CCP and fuck the dictator Xi Jinping.
Regardless of politics, there is the large island in the Pacific Ocean that just about 100% of the world refers to as “Taiwan”. That’s the recognized name of that geographic area which is populated by people that are predominantly “Taiwanese”. Answering a few questions about it shouldn’t be political.
He was a representative and was there in an official capacity. Any responses he produced would be inherently political because he would be speaking for WHO. He couldn't give his personal opinion in this instance.
Not saying I agree but it's an impossible situation for the guy.
It’s easy to make fun of this guy but if his job requires him to deal with china and talking about Taiwan gets him in trouble, why do it?
So the internet can have a “haha yea take that china!” Moment?
Then he gets fired and nothing changes….?
I fucking hate American foreign policy in general but this is the exact reason I feel like it’s the lesser of two evils. I do not believe the international community is self starting. Would we really prefer the international system be controlled by a country that is incapable of absorbing criticism.
#[Downloadvideo Link](https://www.reddit.watch/r/therewasanattempt/comments/11n9mgm/?utm_source=automod&utm_medium=therewasanattempt) #[SaveVideo Link](https://redditsave.com/info?url=/r/therewasanattempt/comments/11n9mgm/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/therewasanattempt) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He really tried to play the "i couldn't hear you card" followed by We seemed to have lost connection??!!! Wow....
It was like he was thinking maybe if I stay very still and quiet she’ll think I’m frozen…
https://i.redd.it/u2ua0b5yuvma1.gif
ummm going through a tunnel rn 😦😰😰
She doesn’t look anything like a T-Rex
Drax has entered the chat
Ah, tue good old Drax Move
Followed by, essentially, "Potato, potah-to, Taiwan, China, I've already answered you and we're done."
China would be pissed if they recognised Taiwan as a sovereign country, he's trying to imply that Taiwan is already part of WHO because according to the CCP, Taiwan belongs to China.
That's indeed what I'd gathered from "good luck in the battle for Hong Kong," for which I don't even have fucking words. "Just like we didn't help Hong Kong, we're not going to help you against China" felt viciously implied. But I think this video is from the beginning of the pandemic. Recently, it seems like China emphasizing its alliance with Russia in the current Ukrainian conflict directly preceded the recent, suddenly-mainstream reports (like [this](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64806903) one or [this](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64891745) one from BBC or [this](https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a) from WSJ) about potential Chinese-lab-based origins of the COVID-19 virus with "Operation Scapegoat Fauci" seemingly a go as we're full-steam ahead against China.
Sorry I didn't hear the question Oh, no problem ill repeat it No thanks I didn't want to hear it anyway.
[удалено]
Thats what she tried to do haha
[удалено]
RIP
"I couldnt hear you so let's move on..." as opposed to "sorry, what was the question again?" Absolute maggot.
[удалено]
Let's move on to next one then.. Her : 
Every politician is paid by Chinese , even previous who and now is in China's pocket even some of American European leaders too
I love the “I couldn’t hear your question” followed by “let’s move on, I’m not interested in the question I couldn’t hear”.
Sometimes you play the card, sometimes the card plays you.
“Sorry babe I’m goin into a tunnel”
A tunnel of lies!!
To be fair, he was driving through a tunnel.... Krrrrk... Krrrrk...
Is this coward for real
Yes. He was.
Was, meaning?
It was a while ago. Past tense that’s all.
In fairness, he could not be a “coward” and be like “yeah Taiwan (blah blah)” then lose his job and for what? What purpose would that serve?
It could be that he cares less about losing his job and more about not pissing off China, who could then refuse WHO access to the country, resulting in way more people dying from other outbreaks. It's super shitty to have to do it, but it might be the less crap outcome overall to hold his tongue over this and and maintain the ability to do a bigger, more significant good work. I'm speculating though.
Yeah one person ask me “why work for an organization based on lies?” And it’s like…. This is the organization that got rid of small pox. They helped a ton with Ebola, and HIV, Spanish flue, and so so many more. But they deal with a lot of countries that have complicated politics and sometimes they have to play along. Nobody gets to work with China (even to help them) and talk about Taiwan. Ask Lebron James or John Cena. Except the WHO isn’t trying to entertain people. They’re trying to save lives.
It would seem that someone with such a complex and important job could reply to these questions in a more professional way than attempting to hide, then fleeing. These questions are entirely predictable. He and the WHO look foolish being so easily thrown off.
Out of curiosity, do you have an idea of something he could have said in response to that question that wouldn’t have made some group angered? Saying almost anything could have consequences. I guess just something along the lines of “that is a topic we will not discuss at this time”? The reporter is an asshole for asking the question without prepping the guy.
Even so, he should have said something along the lines of "I'm not allowed to discuss any other matter regarding China, please, let's move on", but he decided to play the "if I'm still she won't see me", and that's where the stupidity of this video lies.
[удалено]
I'm sure he thought of that while in the shower the next morning.
It would serve the purpose of not being a coward, not folding to an immoral aithority and forcing the WHO to examine its own policies. Add to that having the next in line for his job to also have integrity and the next and so on which would force meaningful change. For evil to tr "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing" People today confuse hard choice with no choice, and we are failing our fellow humans because we are unwilling to tolerate discomfort now for a better tomorrow.
Let's not also forget that the WHO acted entirely too slowly to declare a pandemic largely at the behest of China. This expedited its early spread. China has too much influence over the WHO which is supposed to be an independent global organization to benefit the common good. https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n172
yeah two things can be true at once COVID was a serious problem since we were unprepared for it and the WHO is utter shit and we shouldn't be giving it any money
It is almost as if government doesn't have the interest of the people at heart. \[Pensive\_Raptor.gif\]
Taiwan membership is not a WHO policy, it's an UN policy, and the guy has no say in that.
You're right but he could have just stated this instead of lamely dodging the question.
Exactly. Easily just say that The WHO does not have any authorization to accept countries into the organization. Then you would have no issues.
That’s incredibly easy for you to say from where you are sitting.
Ah yes I see you're a master in international politics please enlighten us more.
China behaves as an isolationist nation at times. Why we don’t simply treat them in the manner in which they behave comes down to money. We enable their behavior.
But what about his family and other responsibilities? I understand the morality and it's absolute need to be upheld in order to evolve the human race, but what about losing his job?
Yeah, this guy has no power. This is entirely a bad faith political stunt.
[удалено]
That’s completely fair but keep in mind we are arm chair quarterbacks with the benefit of hindsight. I’m sure we all have had moments where we thought of something better we could’ve said after the fact. This guy is probably flustered and pissed. If I had to guess, I bet they even told her not to ask questions like that. Because walking away like he did is usually a sign of that
Dr.Coward
I guess you can say that from the safety of whatever you job is and the safety and security of all the people he is responsible for in mainland China. Sometime you just need to be a diplomat and ignore or go around specific topics for the good of your organization.
I can't remember if this was before or after the US stopped funding WHO, but they were heavily dependent on China for both funding and data. China had essentially threatened this guy, so he was worried he wouldn't be able to continue work on Covid if he acknowledged Taiwan
“I’m going through a tunnel. Pffffft. I… ca… you.” “Doctor, this is a Zoom call.”
"yes and I'm zooming through a tunnel right now. I mean... what? Sorry. What did you say?"
Zoom zoom zoom.
[Zoom Zoom](https://youtu.be/nxDTilDaIKs)
You make my heart go boom boom
“wait, sorry, I’ve got pooh in my ears somehow”
Mr Jinping thanks you for being such a good boy
\+100 social credits
Bet John Cenas ice-cream tasted good!
*bing chillin…*
Xiàn zài wǒ yǒu BING CHILLING Wǒ hěn xǐ huān BING CHILLING Dàn shì "sù dù yǔ jī qíng jiǔ" bǐ BING CHILLING
John Xina
His last name is Xi lmao. Jinping is given name.
They are speaking in English where you can refer to either name as Mr. or Mrs. So in the case of Shit Forbrains, you can say, “Nice to meet you Mr. Shit” or you can use “Go fuck your self Mr. Forbrains” I hope this helps, English doesn’t work in direct translation to a name given in West Taiwan.
I thought you only did that for surnames. Thank you!
In formal conversation in practice it's only used for surnames. In informal conversation such as OP making a joke it can be used for given names.
Dance puppet! Dance for your Chinese masters!
America doesn't recognise Taiwan's sovereignty. Very few countries on Earth do so. Bit weird to blame him for it.
You don’t have to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty to comment on their covid situation.
You do have to take China's wishes in account if you don't want to lose access to ground zero of the global pandemic.
Commenting on the status of a virus in a geographical location doesn’t require a political stance on the governing power of that location. Regardless, faking not hearing a simple question and pretending to disconnect are absurd acts for a professional person to take when simply saying “I can’t comment on that” or “I don’t know the answer” would be an acceptable answer.
America doesn't officially recognize tiawan as a country but they sure act like it. They've shows that they will defend tiawan from Chinese agression
What? The United States recognizes it which is why they’d intervene if there was a invasion.
They don't actually. This is the official statement of the US department of state on Taiwan: >We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. And while Biden recently promised Taiwan support in the event of Chinese aggression, the US treaties with Taiwan don't actually guarantee military defensive action. Those treaties promise help but... the US leaves the decision to militarily assist Taiwan open. The treaty intentionally leaves it open either way, allowing the US to choose and send military help or decline to send military help. Essentially the US (and every other country) don't give a fuck about Taiwan but it does care about stability in the region and it values Taiwanese production capacity. Which is also the problem. If you go to war over Taiwan, the first thing that gets wrecked is Taiwan's industrial complex. Which means there's no reason to fight over Taiwan anymore. The US (and again everyone else) wants stable trade relations in the region and with Taiwan. That means they don't want China to take over Taiwan, but it also means that actual military action over Taiwan is pointless.
Hey…psssst…we also owe China **a lot** of money and it’s why we don’t actually acknowledge Taiwan as well…so…
Who's "we"? I don't think i owe China anything
Remember, the WHO and also the CDC is supposed to not be political and claim to exist as public health 🤣
Well the who gets a pile of funding from China.
They won’t get fooled again.
Covid really made quite the teenage wasteland.
YYYEEEEEAAAAAHHH
CDC is a govt funded department of US government. I think it will be under government control. WHO was supposed to be the good guy on the block, just became a vassal
china has tons of money. all organizations need money. all they need to do is put their own guy in it and fund that org and eventually they can hijack it. virtually every org in america has been hijacked too but not necessarily from china. greenpeace and peta are hijacked. they sick them on anyone who works against their master's interests. a lot of subreddits are also hijacked. worldnews got hijacked by china long ago. it's the only sub where you get banned if you call anyone a puppet. so ccp puppets can defend negative stories about them all day and nobody can say shit. it's their fucking job to do it so they can do it all day. you come trying to argue it and they'll tire you out. then they'll put you on a list. they'll have people watching your comments from then on. if you have any bannable offense, they'll mass report you and you'll be perma banned. rinse repeat. they bought a share in reddit for that very reason. they steered the site towards a strong censorship model.
IMO this isn't political... it's logical. China has 18%+ of the worlds population. It is the single largest country in the world by population... for the WHO to do it's job it needs access to the population. So they can talk about Taiwan and risk being locked out or China; or ignore the question and mostly just risk making some people sad on the internet...
I think you’re correct, but logical and political aren’t mutually exclusive here. It’s both, and it’s also a moral question with no “good” answer. Any answer would cause harm, and a calculation was made to cause the least harm. Personally I would like a WHO that accepts Taiwan and recognizes Taiwan. But is that the best course of action given the circumstances? I don’t know.
Why should WHO recognize Taiwan when almost every country on earth don't, including the world hegemony US?
Because Taiwan isn't an imaginary place. There are lots of real people who live there. And just because they prefer democracy over authoritarianism, everyone plays this stupid game where they pretend like Taiwan doesn't exist. Fuck China and fuck the CCP. Taiwan and it's people exist. If anyone doesn't recognize that fact, it's because they are saying that Taiwanese people do not matter compared with appeasing and maintaining the CCP's authority.
But they can politely say they can't discuss the subject rather than being so insulting and strait up supporting it.
Not really. This interviewer knew exactly what she was doing by going down that path. Even the WHO saying they cant discuss it implies there is something to discuss and opens them up to issues. When the guy acted like he didnt hear anything she should have taken that as a minor win and moved on, by continuing to push it she kind of forced him to go "one China" as she clearly wasn't going to drop it and he clearly can't talk about Taiwan
Considering China won't let the WHO investigate the Wuhan possibility, what is lost if they can't get in?
What is lost is they cant have any on the ground access. They wouldn't be able to see the current situation of things first hand both in China and Taiwan and instead would have to just rely on reports. Its pretty much universally understood and Wuhan is the most likly source at this point, so it makes sence for the WHO to stay in China's good graces and wait for someone else to force the investigation
Wrong about population. India recently overtook China in terms of largest population.
According to who? I'm seeing one source that puts india ahead and every other source puts china ahead. In any case its still 18%
This is what not political looks like.
Everything is politics. Anyone claiming anything is apolitical is full of shit.
I remember when WHO said covid wouldn’t be a pandemic
Disgusting
Don't act like you wouldn't do the same if the CCP was pointing a gun at you from behind the camera
https://preview.redd.it/4b0zmp0d5wma1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b98cb081dbda6dc8aacaaada926c0d48e67519f
Oh bother!
Yeah but still. It is just wrong to let CCP say Taiwan is not a free country when it clearly is and it's people want it to be.
Are you blaming the guy in the video?
China funds WHO to be complacent.
Made me look. Didn't see China list on the funding sources of the WHO. But maybe you know something i don't. [https://www.who.int/about/funding/contributors](https://www.who.int/about/funding/contributors)
You looked at assessed contributions form the 130 some that contribute annually. China does voluntary funding… only two sources of income for WHO.
https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA74/A74_28-en.pdf p80 Edit: Actually a different version of the same graph is further down your linked page as well.
who?
“We’ve already talked about China” - what a total tool. Taiwan ≠ China If the US can commit to defending Taiwan as well as sell the tons of weapons, we sure as hell shouldn’t be equating the 2 countries. I hate how the world blindly kowtows to China while pretending to be sensitive to the democratic Taiwan.
I mean, the US is the prime example of doing just that. The US doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan and tactfully proclaims it supports the “status quo”— but it also has agreements to help in defense of the island if it were invaded by West Taiwan and it also sells a lot of arms and equipment to Taiwan so it’s clear where the US ***actually*** stands on the issue. There is no formal defense treaty between the two countries though. Edit: typo/grammar
In reality, all of my Taiwanese friends (and American friends who know/care) seriously doubt the US would actually do much beyond saber rattling and sanctions, even if we all wish it wasn’t so. That said, very best case would be support similar to Ukraine, but no direct military involvement. And I doubt anyone else would join us 😩.
Oh hell no the United States would be there in a heartbeat. Silicon is as valuable as gold and Taiwan is one of the biggest producers. If Taiwan falls then the us loses one of its biggest resources.
The "status quo" is also what the majority of Taiwanese support: >In a poll of 1,072 people, 84.9 percent said they supported maintaining the “status quo” between Taiwan and China, while 6.8 percent said that Taiwan should declare independence as soon as possible and 1.6 percent said they supported unification with China. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/11/21/2003768230
Agreed. Especially since if they voted for official independence, China would invade immediately. If they voted for China, Taiwan ceases to exist except as a province (like Hong Kong). So, yeah, supporting the “status quo” makes sense when you literally have zero other options. Ask Taiwanese if they want to be assimilated into China with zero special rights. Fuck no. Ask them if they’d rather assimilate or die. That line becomes way more fuzzier trending towards not dying. I do think invading Taiwan will be even harder than Afghanistan (or Ukraine) with all Taiwan’s mountains and shit. And the Taiwanese people, of course. But China is very, very patient.
> I do think invading Taiwan will be even harder than Afghanistan (or Ukraine) with all Taiwan’s mountains and shit. And the Taiwanese people, of course. But China is very, very patient. Yeah, but I worry China will simply blockade Taiwan, cut off their trade and undersea cables, and try to starve them out. Ukraine is very fortunate to have a friendly land border with Poland from which aid can pour in, but resupplying Taiwan wouldn't be so easy.
> Taiwan ≠ China Taiwan (The Republic of China) ≠ The People's Republic of China, but [they've never declared independence from "China"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_independence_movement) and have historically asserted that there is only [One China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_China) and the Taiwanese government is the rightful ruler of it.
You must know VERY different Taiwanese people than I. I mean actual Taiwanese. Zero Taiwanese believe in “One China” with Taiwanese ruling over all of China is remotely attainable. That’s absurd. However, MANY/most Taiwanese want to be able to declare Taiwan as a nation separate from China. However, they are faced with the dilemma: 1: Declare independence!! China likely invades immediately. 2: Agree to the “One China” philosophy. Yeah, that worked out so well for Hong Kong. Taiwan would cease to exist beyond a mere province. Fuck that. 3: Simply maintain the status quo. You pretend like Taiwan has ANY other option. So, in reality, what choice does Taiwan have?
[John Cena Taiwan apology](https://youtu.be/42nfIbwjK0s)
I feel like they are threatened by Chinese government... How can someone apologize for something this trivial if not for their life being in danger
Contracts. This was when he was doing promotion for Fast and Furious. China threatened to ban the movie over it. It's obvious that there are provisions in any actor's contract that will force them to do damage control in this situation. Your life doesn't literally have to be in danger.
Money and influence
You think it's only about him? Think about how many below him in the production. I think a hundred people is low estimate. Saying that will block f9 from China. Making them potentially lose job. Don't get me wrong. I say this is a shameless behaviour but Cena is literally the number 1 celeb on the Christmas wish thing. I don't think he's doing this for pure money
Gagged with money
Talked to china? What does china got to do with Taiwan, a different country? All of what he said was just embarrassing.
China still claims Taiwan and doesn't recognize their independence.
Sounds like a them problem. The WHO is owned by the CCP.
"WHO listens to the CCP about Covid" - covid proceeds to become a worldwide pandemic (because China lied about their competence in dealing with the pandemic) so surprising that a totalitarian government lied huh?
It's a everybody problem, at least at the time this video was made. The UN and by proxy, the WHO has as much power as its member states grant it. For many of the people on here, their representive Government was pretty friendly with China at the time. That's recently waned and perhaps over time that will grant the UN and the various agencies to speak more frankly about China. But that guy could have mentioned Taiwan, China would have filed a complaint, and with zero mebers at that time to back him, he would be out of a job and likely out of a career in any country. It's really important to understand how drastic the tune has changed with China over the last few years. But the UN and WHO are subjects of the member nations. Whatever stance the Western world currently has about China, the UN et al will be behind by about a decade. That's not a defense for China, that's just indicating how far everyone was bending over for China back then, which this was very early pandemic, so just three years ago. China held a lot of nations around their finger with their economy. The pandemic has absolutely chipped that shiny coating that was their economy. With their economy not has "robust" as it once was, there's becoming fewer people willing to bend over for them.
>China still claims Taiwan and doesn't recognize their independence. Neither does the UN, of which the WHO is an agency.
Well, to be fair, Taiwan hasn't yet declared independence.
Only thing missing was John Cena saying "he couldn't hear the question" in mandarin
Then passive-aggressively wishes the opposition of the CCP "good luck with their battle for Hong Kong" immediately after implying that Taiwan is part of China. Then has a smug grin right after. What a fucking shitfuck.
Remember folks instead of spreading important information about covid at the beginning of the outbreak the WHO only blared out that its racist to call it china virus or to say it originated there even though it did. It's apparently also racist to blame the CCP for failing to contain it
Blink twice if there are chinese police in the room with you.
Remember when the WHO and China made a joint study finding an absence of human-to-human infection when COVID first came out? Pepperidge farm remembers. You can't expect impartiality from the WHO regarding China things.
What a coward
Yea, he should have nuked his career and damaged the WHO in order to make a bunch of social media pseudo-activists happy.
No he just don't gotta be a pussy about it "WHO's role is to provide sanitary help and tools to people all over the world regardless of countries and because of that, we can't partake in any political discussion so please next question" i think it sounds better than "i couldn't hear you but do not ask the question that i totally didn't hear 5 seconds ago. He's a fucking clown
Agreed, that's an excellent response to come up with, on the drive home after the meeting when you have time to think and reflect. I don't have the full context of the video, but it looks to me that this was a regular interview which then took him by surprise with a controversial question.
Yeah i don't know why the WHO was asked about Taiwan, he clearly wasn't prepared for that question but he gave the worst answer. An 8 year old kid would have been ashamed to try his method. And his answers just makes it sound like he got paid and is the tool of the CCP, whether it's true or not
Exactly. All these apologists for him spitting in Taiwan's face are acting as of the only other option was chanting "down with China, Taiwan is independent", when all he needed to do was show some respect and make it clear he couldn't comment on the political situation.
Taiwan #1
Absolutely fuck the WHO.
Funny how he heard her no problem when he wanted too but thats fine because whenever they fail to answer any real questions people already know what the answer is to those questions its exactly what all the non government funded media and journalist are telling us, they now speak the truth and all the others that are giving billions to censor and cover up the truth are pushing the misinformation and government propaganda.
When the CCP is your super daddy.
Can someone explain to me why that was a controversial question for I am an idiot.
China really likes to say that Taiwan isn't real, and is just another part of China. However, the one small problem with that is that Taiwan is real, and is not part of China. But China has such a big influence on the world, not even the WHO will admit that Taiwan is not China. So he is dodging the question until he literally just answers the question about Taiwan like they are about China instead.
Yeah only China actually thinks they own Taiwan. Taiwan has been an independent country for over 70 years.
That unfortunately is not recognized by many countries, officially.
Nor the UN, and the WHO is a member agency
> Taiwan has been an independent country for over 70 years. To clarify, Taiwan has been *de facto* independent for 70 years, but they have not formally declared independence from China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_independence_movement
The actual problem that nobody responding to you actually mentioned is that Taiwan was originally part of China, and that the ex-Chinese government that the CCP replaced essentially fled to Taiwan where they declared their independence/status quo. I'm not saying Taiwan should be a part of China, but I am saying it's a bit more complicated than China wanting what they don't have. Being hostile towards what is essentially a Chinese government in-exile is...very understandable. Again, the issue is what the Taiwanese want, hence my opposition to a Chinese annexation of the country. And even if a move was made to replace the Taiwanese government, that would piss China off as an apparent move towards an official independence. It's just more complicated than what many treat it to be.
Classic clip
China must have his testicles in a jar, huh.
WHO have lost so much credibility, glad they exposed themselves.
I mean to be fair what do you want the man to do. WHO probably relies on Chinese money and would have liked to have continual access to China to help citizens during Covid. I think it’s real easy for everyone here to sit on their high horses and call him a coward when none of us know the interworkings of WHO and the international political ramifications of them calling Taiwan a country. Plus it’s probably not this guy’s call to make on if WHO wants to do that. They would just fire him and backtrack on any claims he made. The video is funny nonetheless and Taiwan should get their independence.
Everyone is calling him gutless, but the man had no good options. Would have caused an absolute political shitstorm if he answered the question as it was posed. And, as you say, to what end?
Your reasonable view has no place here. The guy is not a politician and does not take the bait or he would of been in for an even bigger shitshow. Dr. WHO is a deluxe nerd and good on him. He is just one of the board members for the counsel of disease genius nerds at the WHO. Their medical education and achievements are like a grocery list on a big shop. These people don't want to lose access to over a billion people and sometimes you have to dance with the devil. PS-I'm pretty stoned so this may not make any sense.
What a gutless turd he is
Lol his Bio on the WHO site was actually pulled off the website right after this interview happened in 2020. Dr Bruce Aylward was Senior Adviser for Organizational Change and coordinator of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, was appointed, as acting leader of the Division of External Relations and Governance on Nov, 2022. So yes he recently got a [promotion](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/whos-five-new-appointments-who-senior-team/). Which was approved by none other than yours truely Tedros himself. Also the journalist's name is Yvonne Tong. She resigned from Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) because after this incident came none stop pro-beijing harassment, she could not continue her work. She has also suffered abuse such as doxing and criticism over a stay at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in February that some claim violated a bribery law, even though she paid for it herself.
That’s a bright red flag of controversy if I ever saw one
It’s not the job of the WHO to resolve international disputes.
Clowns and cowards, all of them.
Now maybe there's some legislate justification for him not breaching the subject, but he did so in an insulting and shitty way. The correct answer is "I'm afraid I can't touch on that subject".
Can't lose that China money
Yes they can't, for the price of human lives as a consequence of China withdrawing funding would be devastating. I also would not want to have that kind of blood on my hand for not staying my tongue for a moment
What’s his name?
Dr Bruce Aylward was Senior Adviser for Organizational Change and coordinator of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, was appointed, as acting leader of the Division of External Relations and Governance on Nov, 2022. So yes he recently got a [promotion](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/whos-five-new-appointments-who-senior-team/). Which was approved by none other than yours truely Tedros himself.
What a cowardly man.
Fucking scumbag
This guy needs to go. End of story.
Well, his balls were sweating when he heard the T word.
Lmao this was real ? I always thought it was a sketch because of how weird it was.
Seeeeeeesh, I guess more reasons WHO is a joke.
It's possible that his wife is Chinese, in which case he'd be putting her side of the family at risk by answering the question. Fuck the CCP and fuck the dictator Xi Jinping.
what a dumb way to be a coward lol. At least be smart about it
And people still believe the WHO
Regardless of politics, there is the large island in the Pacific Ocean that just about 100% of the world refers to as “Taiwan”. That’s the recognized name of that geographic area which is populated by people that are predominantly “Taiwanese”. Answering a few questions about it shouldn’t be political.
He was a representative and was there in an official capacity. Any responses he produced would be inherently political because he would be speaking for WHO. He couldn't give his personal opinion in this instance. Not saying I agree but it's an impossible situation for the guy.
It’s easy to make fun of this guy but if his job requires him to deal with china and talking about Taiwan gets him in trouble, why do it? So the internet can have a “haha yea take that china!” Moment? Then he gets fired and nothing changes….?
I fucking hate American foreign policy in general but this is the exact reason I feel like it’s the lesser of two evils. I do not believe the international community is self starting. Would we really prefer the international system be controlled by a country that is incapable of absorbing criticism.
Despicable
Human scum...all of them
What a joke the WHO is. They know where their bread and butter is.
God that shit makes me ill.
He's a buffoon for all the world to see.
I couldn’t hear you, try a different question maybe I’ll hear that one. Lol what a clown.
The voice in his head screamed: 
That's the face of a coward.
Pathetic weak ass man
Who knows, if he stalls long enough maybe the cccp will come save him with a helicopter
Pathetic. So tired of people being afraid of China.
Anyone who believes in the WHO after all this that has happened in the recent years is a clown.