Constitutional Crisis at the World Health Organization

In my April 15, 2020 blog titled China, Communism, Pandemics: Statism, Negligence, and Secrecy on Trial, I wrote the following:

The highly acclaimed ethicist and philosopher Sissela Bok, the daughter of two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Gunnar and Alva Myrdal, is a notable scholar who is well written on matters pertaining to lies, deception, and secrets. In her book Lying: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation, Bok's chapter on Secrets of State makes the following argument and goes to the heart of the actions of China's rogue regime.

For coercive governments, secrecy is essential to every aspect of their exercise of power. These regimes combine control over secrecy with equal control over what becomes public. But secrecy also becomes the central means of resistance and survival of those who oppose such regimes, whether actively or merely in thought. From childhood on, these citizens surreptitiously learn how to reinterpret propaganda, read between the lines, resist indoctrination, evade the secret police.

This was my initial treatment of the COVID-19 crisis and the case against Chinese corruption at the Chinese Communist Party. Since then, an avalanche of evidence has emerged strengthening an onslaught of criticism against the government of China for its egregious handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that so far has killed 80,682 Americans and 286,330 globally according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

On May 9th, Taiwan News posted an article titled, China asked WHO to cover up coronavirus outbreak: German intelligence service. Matthew Strong, Taiwan News Staff Writer, writes, "TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) asked World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to suppress news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the German intelligence agency BND found, according to a report by German magazine Der Spiegel." This shocking revelation confirms everyone's worst fears and also shows how the World Health Organization is in crisis and complicit in Chinese treachery at its highest level.

I like to refer back to Constitutions, oaths of office, and other official declarations and affirmations because they define purpose, principles and vision, and help promote transparency and accountability with constituencies. They are important during transfers of power, but they need to remain important to help establish accountability and integrity and preserve the public trust without compromise. Here's what the WHO's Constitution says and why we should never lose sight of what this organization is founded upon:

The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent upon the fullest co-operation of individuals and States

Article 1 The objective of the World Health Organization (hereinafter called the Organization) shall be the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.

Article 2(c) to assist Governments, upon request, in strengthening health services;

(i) to promote, in co-operation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the improvement of nutrition, housing, sanitation, recreation, economic or working conditions and other aspects of environmental hygiene;

(d) to furnish appropriate technical assistance and, in emergencies, necessary aid upon the request or acceptance of Governments;

(g) to stimulate and advance work to eradicate epidemic, endemic and other diseases;

(h) to promote, in co-operation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the prevention of accidental injuries;

(r) to assist in developing an informed public opinion among all peoples on matters of health;

Article 21 The Health Assembly shall have authority to adopt regulations concerning: (a) sanitary and quarantine requirements and other procedures designed to prevent the international spread of disease;

Article 28 (i) to take emergency measures within the functions and financial resources of the Organization to deal with events requiring immediate action. In particular it may authorize the Director-General to take the necessary steps to combat epidemics, to participate in the organization of health relief to victims of a calamity and to undertake studies and research the urgency of which has been drawn to the attention of the Board by any Member or by the Director-General.

Article 37 In the performance of their duties the Director-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officers. Each Member of the Organization on its part undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the Director-General and the staff and not to seek to influence them.

Article 76 Upon authorization by the General Assembly of the United Nations or upon authorization in accordance with any agreement between the Organization and the United Nations, the Organization may request the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on any legal question arising within the competence of the Organization.

Again, the above highlights are straight from the Constitution of the World Health Organization, which derives its power and authority from the United Nations. Every single item above has been violated by the actions of the Director-General as reported in the Taiwan News article I cited in the beginning. Items in bold and underlined are especially noteworthy as they reflect a Constitutional crisis at the World Health Organization. For the Director-General to explicitly violate Articles 2(d & h), 28(i), and 37, notwithstanding all the others that are referenced, I see no professional or ethical basis for him to remain at the helm of this organization, whose primary existence is to promote "happiness, harmonious relations and security of all peoples".

The secret actions of Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus are indefensible and fireable offenses. Ultimately, they have rendered the WHO and its Constitution toothless, fraudulent, and delinquent, as too many lives have been lost under this reckless regime. This Constitutional Crisis at the WHO must stop now! Integrity must be restored from head to toe in order to regain respect, credibility, and most importantly, restored confidence in its ability to effectively carry out its mission. The world, especially now, deserves and expects nothing less.

COVID-19 and The UN: UNacceptable, UNsound, and UNaccountable

Never shy about issuing moral platitudes when it comes to their obvious environmental agenda, the article, First Person: COVID-19 is not a silver lining for the climate, says UN Environment chief at UN News, exposes their environmental narrative as exploitative climate-change dogma.

Rather than address the Chinese Community Party's (CCP) reprehensible coverup and obfuscation of the facts that launched the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Environmental Chief seems more interested in human wildlife encroachment, cleaner and greener policies, and "keeping nature rich, diverse and flourishing". So rich is the environmental propaganda that the controversies surrounding wet markets and the wildlife trade are treated as mere footnotes and incidentals to the brutal realities of our growing pandemic tendencies. The quote below is an example of UN dogma that uses COVID-19 as an on-ramp to the more important issue of environmentalism.

The “wild” must be kept “wild.” It is time to restore our forests, stop deforestation, invest in the management of protected areas, and propel markets for deforestation-free products. Where the legal wildlife trade chain exists, we need to do a far better job of improving hygiene conditions. And of course, there is the urgent need to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, the fourth most common crime committed worldwide.  

The article concludes with a challenge to the world to use post COVID-19 strategy as a pathway to transition to a "different way of life". In UN terms, this means global transformation and global acceptance of the UN's broader "Mother Earth" agenda. No, I'm not opposing environmental considerations at all. I'm all for stewardship and humane, responsible, and reasonable approaches to protecting wildlife, nature, and the Earth that God created for humanity. My criticism with this piece and the thinking behind it, however, is that there's no treatment of wrongdoing against the Chinese Communist Party whatsoever. I went into this in greater detail in my last blog and won't belabor the point here. Instead, I will reiterate that in the absence of accountability, I find UN thinking, or the lack thereof, UNacceptable, UNsound, and UNaccountable when it comes to truth, transparency, and the CCP's incorrigible and reckless behavior toward the world. From moral cowardice to moral compromise, it is painfully clear that the UN has a serious credibility problem, and as long as they continue to ignore the importance of holding the CCP accountable to the world community for the suffering and harms it has caused, it will remain complicit in CCP wrongdoing and forever crippled as an organization.

China, Communism, Pandemics: Statism, Secrecy, and Negligence on Trial

As the world struggles to avert economic and human catastrophe due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, more world leaders and average citizens are beginning to seriously question China's lackluster initial response late last year and how it contributed to the escalating crisis. The mounting questions and criticisms range from the failures of Communism to harms and compensatory justice.

Many have questioned the role biological labs in Wuhan Province played in the emergence of the Coronavirus. This is reasonable because these labs are part of the Institute of Virology and the Wuhan Center for Disease Control. Hence, the speculation centers around the belief that either the Coronavirus accidentally leaked from one of the labs or it was intentionally released.

My purpose is not to prove which theory about the origin of this lethal pathogen now known as COVID-19 is true. Rather, my interest is to defend the claim that China's apparent secrecy and negligence set in motion global loss, suffering, and financial ruin such that the Chinese government (Chinese Communist Party or CCP) is collectively responsible for catastrophic harms and thus has a prima facie moral and fiscal duty to compensate the victims of a pandemic that they caused and accelerated through inaction, ineptness, dishonesty, and deception.

One of the better articles chronicling the COVID-19 crisis and the Communist Party of China's failure appeared in the Washington Post on February 1, 2020. In the article, Early missteps and state secrecy in China probably allowed the coronavirus to spread farther and faster, Gerry Shih, Emily Ruahala, and Lena H. Sun provide a thorough and compelling account of moral, political, and leadership failures that ushered in our current global crisis. The authors give descriptive accounts that highlight government failure at all levels and public mistrust and misunderstanding that combined to place the nexus of moral accountability squarely on the backs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The following quote captures the crux of the problem in China and the CCP specifically:

Medical professionals who tried to sound an alarm were seized by police. Key state media omitted mention of the outbreak for weeks. Cadres focused on maintaining stability — and praising party leader Xi Jinping — as the crisis worsened.

“China’s public health system has modernized, but China’s political system hasn’t,” said Jude Blanchette, head of China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “If anything, there’s been a regression.”

The authors continue with their investigation and report the following that occurred sometime after December 31, 2019 thus proving that the government's illicit cover-up was official, extensive, and authoritatively enforced:

While scientists and public health experts scrambled to collect more information, China’s security services tried to smother it.

On Jan. 1, the Wuhan Public Security Bureau summoned eight people for posting and spreading “rumors” about Wuhan hospitals receiving SARS-like cases — detentions that were reported on “Xinwen Lianbo,” a newscast watched by tens of millions.

The police followed up in the state-run Xinhua News Agency with a chilling warning. “The police call on all netizens to not fabricate rumors, not spread rumors, not believe rumors,” the Wuhan authorities said, adding that they encouraged Web users to “jointly build a harmonious, clear and bright cyberspace.”

From the account above, the secrecy and deception is undeniable. Simply put, the actions of the Chinese Communist Party are hostile to and incompatible with the standards, policies, expectations, and conventional practices enumerated by the United Nations, World Health Organization, and all other international regulatory agencies that exist to preserve and protect peace and safety globally. The CCP's intent early on was to suppress public inquiry and the dissemination of information but in doing so created unsafe conditions that allowed viral spread to occur.

The highly acclaimed ethicist and philosopher Sissela Bok, the daughter of two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Gunnar and Alva Myrdal, is a notable scholar who is well written on matters pertaining to lies, deception, and secrets. In her book Lying: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation, Bok's chapter on Secrets of State makes the following argument and goes to the heart of the actions of China's rogue regime.

For coercive governments, secrecy is essential to every aspect of their exercise of power. These regimes combine control over secrecy with equal control over what becomes public. But secrecy also becomes the central means of resistance and survival of those who oppose such regimes, whether actively or merely in thought. From childhood on, these citizens surreptitiously learn how to reinterpret propaganda, read between the lines, resist indoctrination, evade the secret police.

When a government develops secret police powers or control over censorship, the risks are even greater. Secrecy can then become an end in itself, creating subtle changes in those who exercise it, in how they see themselves, and in their willingness to manipulate and coerce in order to uphold the secrecy and thus shield themselves. To the extent that they have used the cover of secrecy to commit crimes, they reach out for even greater protection.

Her assault on State secrecy, the kind that is hostile to freedom and human flourishing and creates oppressive and inhumane conditions, can and should be used by world leaders to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable because the CCP's secrecy unleashed not only global crisis, but most egregiously it directly caused the deaths of thousands of innocent victims, sickened hundreds of thousands of people of all ages, and economically devastated virtually every country worldwide. No, the CCP cannot and should not be exempt from accountability and investigation. I am convinced that if there is a modern-day case that defines compensatory justice for harms against humanity, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the Chinese Communist Party satisfies every conceivable requirement, legally, morally, and politically. By the time I publish this post, the COVID-19 pandemic will have totaled 2,000,728 cases globally, 126,776 deaths worldwide, and 26,064 deaths in the United States alone! Fiscally, the UN’s trade and development agency, UNCTAD, projects that the economic loss will exceed $1 trillion dollars!

Before closing, I'll highlight an exceptional commentary by James Kraska at www.warontherocks.com. Kraska is a credible authority on international law. He serves as chair and Charles H. Stockton professor of international maritime law in the Stockton Center for International Law at the U.S. Naval War College. His commentary, CHINA IS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR COVID-19 DAMAGE AND CLAIMS COULD BE IN THE TRILLIONS, is incisive, well researched, and expertly resourced. The quote below is one of his main points and must be taken seriously if accountability is to be properly pursued by world leaders:

While China’s intentional conduct is wrongful, is it unlawful? If so, do other states have a legal remedy? Under Article 1 of the International Law Commission’s 2001 Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, states are responsible for their internationally wrongful acts. This commission’s restatement of the law of state responsibility was developed with the input of states to reflect a fundamental principle of international customary law, which binds all nations. “Wrongful acts” are those that are “attributable to the state” and that “constitute a breach of an international obligation” (Article 2). Conduct is attributable to the state when it is an act of state through the executive, legislative, or judicial functions of the central government (Article 4). While China’s failures began at the local level, they quickly spread throughout China’s government, all the way up to Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. He is now being pilloried by Chinese netizens for his failures of action and inaction. The most prominent critic, Chinese tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, lambasted Xi for his mishandling of the coronavirus, calling him a “power hungry clown.” Ren soon disappeared.

Responsibility flows from local Wuhan authorities to Xi himself, which are all organs of the state of China, and whose conduct is therefore attributable to China. An “organ of the state” includes any person or entities that are acting in accordance with national law.

I am an instant fan of Kraska as I find his argument plausible, sustainable, and essential for a proper treatment of the CCP's failures. Kraska provides the pathway for accountability, UN Sanctions, and just compensation to countries that China harmed and is now obligated to heal for compensatory damages suffered. To ignore or reject the merits of this argument results in complicity and the abdication of one's duty to pursue justice. This is a moral imperative that applies to world leaders, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations. In the face of all the existing evidence pointing to systemic failure, to absolve China would be one of history's most severe and appalling injustices ever witnessed; denial, uncertainty, and passivity are unthinkable options that must be avoided and rejected outright. Moral courage must dominate all discourse in order for the world to experience true justice and meaningful resolution. The world wants, expects, and deserves China to fulfill its moral duty to undo the damage and destruction perpetrated on humanity. This is our moral expectation.