by Mona Ng
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has taken obvious stances to different countries. Their full support and continual praises to China’s control over the outbreak has sparked the interests and concerns of different parties. Are there any impacts of such claims from the WHO? What are the reasons behind such mysterious relationship? Let’s find out.
The following is the summary of the transitivity analysis on WHO Director-general’s statement on IHR Emergency Committee on Novel Coronavirus, breaking down their stance on China. This speech by Tedros (WHO Director-general) is given at the end of January, when the virus has already spread to 18 countries including Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the United States of America.
- Material process
‘In many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response.
It’s not an exaggeration.’
| Setting a new standard for outbreak response | China’s outbreak response was the top in the world and faster than before |
| Actually | Place emphasis; element of surprise;shows that China’s response was out of expectation |
| Use of active voice | Placing China as the clear subject;Place emphasis |
- Verbal process
‘The Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak, despite the severe social and economic impact those measures are having on the Chinese people.’
| Congratulated | Offering praise; positive |
| Extraordinary | beyond standards and remarkable |
| Use of passive voice | Placing ‘Chinese government’ at the front of the sentence; bring attention |
| Power and organisation | WHO’s approval of ChinaInfluencing audiences to follow |
I also offer my profound respect and thanks to the thousands of brave health professionals and all frontline responders, who in the midst of the Spring Festival, are working 24/7 to treat the sick, save lives and bring this outbreak under control. Thanks to their efforts, the number of cases in the rest of the world so far has remained relatively small.
| offer my profound respect and thanks | Praise; positive |
| bring this outbreak under control | Stated as a fact, showing as truth;Ensuring audiences |
| Thanks to their efforts, the number of cases in the rest of the world so far has remained relatively small. | the small number of cases outside China at that time was small because of China’s professionals; approves China’s influence on the world; Giving China a high status |
- Behavioral process
WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak.
| Continues | Has confidence from the start, and is willing to continue;Showing positive attitude |
| Power and organisation | Ensuring audiences with the power and trust of the WHO |
What can we see from the analysis?
The WHO is positive in China’s outbreak response and are confident in their control of the outbreak. They kept praising China and ensured the audiences that China has everything under control. Instead of alerting countries to prepare for possible outbreak, there is no doubt the WHO’s praise on China has created a false sense of security to the public, which possibly stimulated the virus’s spread.
Why be the flatterer?
There are many reasons for the WHO to be so supportive of China. Firstly, as the Chinese government has been helping many African countries throughout the decades, such as lending money and building railways, a lot of African countries are in favour of the Chinese government. In 2017, Tedro’s campaign to become the director-general of the WHO needed the vote and support from many countries, and by supporting China, he has also earned votes from many African countries which are following China, and in the end he had successfully defeated the UK candidate.
Powers of organisations
Organizations use language to show and impose their power. They use language to pose their ideology on people, shaping how people think. In this case, the WHO was trying to use their power to show their ‘trust’ in China’s capability, and was using their power to influence the audience to trust the organisation’s decisions. What they stated as facts (“China has the outbreak under control”) will be taken as a fact by others as the WHO is the authority. If the WHO has taken a more neutral role and stated true facts, the public can be better informed, countries could note the seriousness and have taken actions, as well as restricting the global spread of the virus.
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