Washington, DC

Today, Citizen Power Initiatives for China (CPIFC) launched a worldwide petition on Change.org. The petition, addressed to Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), demands full transparency regarding the WHO’s recent trip to China to investigate the origins of COVID-19. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO’s effectiveness, transparency and political neutrality have been seriously questioned. Particular concerns have been raised about the degree to which the WHO’s recent mission to China was a depoliticized undertaking committed to objective fact-finding. CPIFC believes that the people of the world need, and indeed deserve, objective and complete information about the WHO’s recent investigative trip to China and that the WHO’s obligations in this regard are quite literally a matter of life and death.

CPIFC is calling for signatures on this petition, and urges like-minded individuals and organizations to sign their names and share the petition with others.

How to sign the petition:

(1) Go to chng.it/tsr9DzyD7X

(2) Enter your first name, last name, email address, country, city, and postal/zip code.

(3) If a street address is asked, and privacy is a concern, please enter N/A.

(4) Click “Sign this petition”

Note: When more than one person wants to use the same device to sign the petition, the previous signer must first click the small arrow beside the signer’s name and then click “Log out”. After that, the next signer can re-enter the webpage through the link.

The Text of the Petition

Demand for Full Transparency Regarding WHO’s Recent Trip to China to Investigate Origins of COVID-19

Dear Dr. Vardhan and other distinguished members of the WHO Executive Board:

We, the undersigned, believe that the World Health Organization (hereinafter “WHO”) has an indispensable role to play in the prevention and containment of pandemics like the COVID-19 pandemic currently devastating the world. The WHO’s recent mission to China to investigate the origins of the pandemic is a matter of concern to us all.

However, the WHO’s effectiveness in developing and conveying scientific public health information and recommendations depends on political neutrality and full transparency. As citizens and taxpayers, we maintain that the WHO and other intergovernmental organizations must be fully accountable and completely neutral in their interactions with national governments, no matter how powerful and influential those governments may be. With the health of our citizens under threat, the WHO’s obligations in this regard are quite literally a matter of life and death.

Media reports have raised questions about the degree to which the WHO’s recent mission to China was a depoliticized undertaking committed to objective fact-finding. Many democratic governments, including the new U.S. administration, which is considering reengagement with the WHO, have also expressed concerns about the agency’s independence.

We therefore need, and indeed deserve, objective and complete information about the WHO’s recent investigative trip to China:

·       What was the complete and detailed itinerary?

·       Were the itinerary and agenda freely determined by WHO investigators, or were they controlled by the Chinese authorities?  

·       When, where and with whom did the mission members meet, and what information was obtained during these meetings?

·       Was the mission subjected to censorship or pressure in any form?

·       Based on the above, what conclusions were reached by the mission team?

Providing complete and truthful answers to these questions will do much to encourage public trust in the World Health Organization and your leadership thereof. Thank you for your attention to our concerns.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jianli Yang

Founder and President of Citizen Power Initiatives for China