Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), in Geneva, Switzerland. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) t's about time that people are finally calling out the World Health Organization (WHO) for what it really has become—a cheerleading squad for President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Many are taken aback when told the level at which WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had been bending over backward to accommodate China and obfuscate its missteps during the critical early stages of this pandemic. From the perspective of a Filipino journalist, writing from a developing country like the Philippines, Tedros' motives are unmistakably clear. He is kowtowing to Xi, his prime benefactor. Tedros, who is not a medical doctor, to begin with, nevertheless made it to the top of the WHO in 2017, in large part due to China's overt—and covert—efforts to influence that world body. He is from Ethiopia, a country that happens to be on the receiving end of significant CCP largesse because of its participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). So Tedros has been doing his utmost to make China look good. Unfortunately, his obsequiousness may have cost the world thousands of lives in this pandemic. Had the WHO acted swiftly and decisively from the start, the COVID-19 virus might have been contained well before it became a global pandemic. But because Tedros moved in lockstep with the CCP, the WHO downplayed incriminating evidence, then dragged its feet at mitigation and containment efforts. We get it. Tedros owes much to his Chinese benefactors. And while one might get away with such misplaced loyalty in parts of the developing world, most other countries demand a lot more from people in positions of authority like him. And because we've seen firsthand how lethal this pandemic is, a mistake or misstep can cost thousands of human lives. Tedros has lost the confidence of people across the world and should be removed posthaste. Click on this link to sign a petition to remove Tedros as head of the WHO. As we noted in our previous editorial, a post-COVID-19 world will likely be a very different one. Incompetence and poor decision-making will be much less tolerated than it used to be. If your decisions are wrong, then you should be removed from office. In our brave new world of tomorrow, no country can afford to have incompetents in positions of authority. Published 4/16/2020 Click here to sign the petition calling for the resignation of Tedros from the WHO.