April 15, 2020

It's Not Just the WHO: How China Is Moving on the Whole U.N.

President Donald Trump has decided to halt U.S. funding for the World Health Organization, accusing it of kowtowing to China in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic by applauding the Chinese government’s “transparency” and uncritically accepting Beijing’s assertions, such as that the virus was not transmissible between humans. The WHO, Trump said, has become “very China-centric.”

It might be easy to dismiss this move as trademark Trumpian blame deflection or saber-rattling or shortsighted isolationism. But for people who’ve been watching China’s growing activism in the United Nations closely, the WHO’s deference to China is no surprise. In fact, it’s just the exposed tip of a dangerous iceberg — and Trump is careening straight toward it.

Read the full article in POLITICO Magazine.

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