After Trump's demarche, China is preparing to take the place of the United States
The United States has decided to withdraw from the World Health Organization.
International political scientist, research professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics writes about this on the pages of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“US President Donald Trump, who previously suspended funding for WHO until the circumstances of the pandemic were clarified, issued an ultimatum to the organization. It must demonstrate its effectiveness within a month, and most importantly, independence from China, otherwise Washington will leave this structure and, accordingly, will never allocate funds to it again,” Lukyanov notes.
Trump calls the WHO a “puppet of China” for allegedly deliberately covering up for Beijing at the initial stage of the spread of the coronavirus.
“The 30 days given by WHO for “correction” are most likely just words. The White House has probably already decided to withdraw from the organization, and the deadline is simply a diversion. Moreover, the UN structure cannot even theoretically fulfill the conditions and prove its “independence” from the permanent member of the Security Council of China,” the author is convinced.
He points out that the current head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the former minister of health and then foreign affairs of Ethiopia, took office in 2017 and became the first head of the organization elected directly by all member states, significantly ahead of his rivals.
“At the same time, the United States, Great Britain and a number of Western allied countries did not vote for the Ethiopian candidate, but he was fully supported by the African Union and, importantly, China actively campaigned for him. The Americans see this as grounds for suspicion, but in fact we can talk about a fundamental trend – a shift in the balance of influence in the world system from the West to a more equal distribution,” notes the internationalist.
He believes that China will now take the place of the international donor instead of the United States.
“After World War II, Washington understood that investing forces and resources in international structures was not a waste of money, but a profitable investment. And before, leading Western countries, primarily the United States, were closely watching so as not to lose a “controlling stake” there. Gradually, attention began to wane, the effectiveness of institutions decreased, and the internal problems of states became more and more pressing.
China has long and persistently worked to delegate its people to all international levels. By depriving the WHO of funding, the Trump administration hopes to put pressure on this and other structures and slow down the process of diffusion of power. The result may turn out to be the opposite if China is ready not only to lobby its interests in international institutions, but also to take on the real financial burden of their maintenance.
Until recently, Beijing avoided unnecessary spending, but now the situation should change. The same United States could tell China in detail that dominance certainly pays off, but before that it requires investment,” Lukyanov sums up.
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