The embattled leader of the World Health Organization is facing new pressure to explain his relationship with China’s government as the world’s nations, including the U.S., continue grappling with the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter Thursday, several Republican members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee called on Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Ethiopian politician who heads the global health body, to explain why he has praised China’s “transparency” during the crisis, which has been linked to nearly 96,000 deaths around the world as of early Friday, including more than 16,000 in the United States.

China has faced numerous accusations that it downplayed the outbreak in Wuhan, which is believed to have sparked the pandemic – thus hindering other nations’ ability to adequately prepare for the arrival of the virus within their borders.