Trump's WHO funding freeze during coronavirus pandemic gives China an opening to expand its influenc
Source: Washington Post
Trump’s WHO funding freeze during coronavirus pandemic gives China an opening to expand its influence
By Emily Rauhala
April 27, 2020 at 2:03 p.m. EDT
Days after President Trump announced he would freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, China made a very different statement: a $30 million pledge to the group.
Trump and his allies argue the WHO’s response to the novel coronavirus has been ineffectual and “China-centric” — and some outside the administration agree.
But his largely unpopular decision this month to suspend funding to the global health agency for 60 days in the middle of a pandemic could have impacts that reverberate beyond the current crisis: Enhancing China’s standing in the world while reinforcing perceptions of the United States as an unpredictable partner.
In the short run, the move hands Beijing a propaganda victory, bolstering its campaign to deflect attention from what happened in Wuhan and recast the crisis as evidence of China’s competence and cooperative might. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the donation showed China was “defending the ideals and principles of multilateralism” — a not so subtle swipe at Trump’s frequent attacks on globalism.
Going forward, a U.S. retreat from the Geneva-based WHO could help China amplify its voice in the United Nations system and to shake up what’s left of the post-World War II order.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/coronavirus-trump-who-freeze-china-influence/2020/04/27/51c54f40-84de-11ea-81a3-9690c9881111_story.html