WHO chief says Mike Pompeo allegations that he was 'bought' by China are 'untrue and unacceptable'

The director-general of the World Health Organisation has hit back at Mike Pompeo over allegations that he was “bought” by China, describing the claims as “untrue and unacceptable”. Rebuking the US secretary of state, who made the comments to MPs during his visit to London on Tuesday, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was focussed on “saving lives”. It comes two days after The Daily Telegraph revealed that Mr Pompeo had told a group of so-called China “hawks” that Dr Tedros had struck a deal with Beijing that helped him secure election. During the private meeting, he added that the allegations were rooted in a “firm intelligence foundation” and that “when push came to shove, when it really mattered most”, people had died during the Covid-19 pandemic “because of the deal that was made”. Addressing the allegations in public for the first time, Dr Tedros told reporters in Geneva: “The comments were done, I think on Tuesday - last Tuesday.