World health summit becomes arena for new Cold War between US and China

In normal times, when the World Health Assembly meets in Geneva each year the direction it sets for the World Health Organization (WHO) does not exactly make the front pages.

This year is very different. The assembly is virtual. The topic is the worst pandemic in a century and the meeting has become the arena for a new Cold War, fought between America and China over how to deal with Covid-19.

With the US withholding money from the WHO, the Chinese are keen to fire as much funding as possible at the organisation – a sales pitch to be the new benevolent superpower.