Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and pro-Taiwan advocate Taro Aso had some harsh words for the World Health Organization and its compliance with Chinese Communist Party propaganda on Sunday.

Speaking to Japanese lawmakers, Taro Aso referenced a Change.org petition calling for the removal of WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Although the details are murky, the WHO’s previous Director General was a Chinese national, and at he time, there were complaints all around,” Taro Aso said.

“And now, at least, the petition has gathered three hundred thousand signatures, or rather, five hundred thousand signatures.”

“People think the World Health Organization should change its name. It shouldn’t be called the WHO, it should be renamed the Chinese Health Organization (CHO). This appeal is truly resonating with the people,” the vice PM said.

“Early on, if the WHO had not insisted to the world that China had no pneumonia epidemic, then everybody would have taken precautions. The WHO, which is a global organization, does not even include Taiwan, and then precisely because Taiwan is not a member of the WHO, it becomes a world leader in fighting the epidemic,” Taro Aso continued.

“After that statement is made, the CCP jumps out to correct it, it says Taiwan is a region, not a country.”

The full video can be seen below:

The WHO has come under intense criticism for essentially acting as the medical propaganda wing of the CCP.

The Change.org petition referenced by Taro Aso lays out a timeline and case for the WHO Director General to be removed for spreading Chinese propaganda:

On January 23rd, 2020. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declines to declare China virus outbreak as a global health emergency. As we all know, the Coronavirus is not treatable at the moment. The number of infected and deaths has risen more than ten times (infected from 800 – close to 10,000) within only 5 days. Part of it is related to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus under estimated the coronavirus. We strongly think Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is not fit for his role as WHO Director General. We call for the Immediate Resignation of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. A lot of us are really disappointed, we believe WHO is supposed to be political neutral. Without any investigation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus solely believes on the death and infected numbers that the Chinese government provided with them. On the other hand, Taiwan should not be excluded from WHO for any political reasons. Their technologies are far more advanced than some of the countries on the “selected WHO list”. Please help the world to gain faith to the UN and WHO again.

The petition has accumulated close to 700,000 signatures at press time.