'China must answer for the deceit, not the WHO'

China has been accused of concealing information about the coronavirus outbreak from the rest of the world. Photo: Reuters

China concealed crucial information about the novel coronavirus outbreak from the rest of the world and so should answer for its deceit, the former head of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service said on Wednesday.



US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) which he said had promoted China’s "disinformation" about the virus.



John Sawers, the chief of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, from 2009 to 2014, said it would be better to hold China responsible rather than the WHO.



"There is deep anger in America at what they see as having been inflicted on us all by China and China is evading a good deal of responsibility for the origin of the virus, for failing to deal with it initially," Sawers told the BBC.



"Intelligence is about acquiring information which has been concealed from you by other states and other actors, there was a brief period in December and January when the Chinese were indeed concealing this from the West."



Meanwhile, Beijing has urged the United States to fulfil its obligations to WHO.



Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijan said the pandemic, which has infected nearly 2 million people globally, is at a critical stage and that Washington's decision would affect all countries of the world.



Asked at a regular daily briefing whether China would step in to fill the shortfall, Zhao was noncommittal.



"China is looking into relevant issues according to the needs of the situation," he said. (Reuters)