WITH the world tackling a pandemic that started in China, it was only a matter of time before accusations began to fly.

And no one is more qualified in this area than Donald Trump, whose recent incendiary tweet blames the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) cosy relationship with China for the spread of Covid-19.

They “really blew it,” said the President, who later threatened to cut funding to the U.N. agency.

Certainly, WHO has questions to answer, after stating in January that there was “no clear evidence of human to human transmission” and criticising Mr Trump for trying to cut flights to the US from China.

Now the outbreak is ravaging America, Mr Trump is, perhaps, understandably feeling sore at being accused of doing too little too late.

Certainly, he’s not alone in suspecting that Beijing has used the WHO to mislead.

From the start, whistleblowers, including the doctor who originally discovered the virus, were detained and infected areas ruthlessly suppressed.

China gave the world sparing information on the virus genome, failed to mention the huge numbers of medical workers getting sick and then suggested the US had created it.

Even now, intelligence that China is under-reporting coronavirus cases persists.

Over here, conspiracy theories abound, including the idea that new 5G masts enhance the effects of the virus.

While this has been comprehensively debunked, handing over our future 5G contracts to Huawei looks considerably less likely.

The other theory is that, while the virus is derived from bats, it could have been accidentally released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

This cannot be discounted, especially since China’s proven accidental leaking of the SARS virus in 2004.

A totalitarian state cannot be trusted and we’d be wise not to.

By Richard Drax MP