US to counter China’s ‘malign’ influence on United Nations, says senior official
- US to build alliance at UN to investigate the source of Covid-19 and address human rights abuses in Xinjiang, ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield says
- China has moved aggressively to boost its influence at the United Nations, securing top positions for its nationals
“They exert enormous influence in the United Nations, and it’s malign … influence that promotes an authoritarian approach to multilateralism,” US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “We need to fight that every step of the way.”
The US is engaged again in global affairs after years of focusing more exclusively on domestic affairs, an absence that has allowed China and other authoritarian states to gain influence, Thomas-Greenfield said, without mentioning the Trump administration by name.
Others were not so coy.
“During the last four years, the United States shied away from multilateral engagement, ceding America’s historic leadership and damaging our standing with the international community,” said Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York and the committee’s chairman.
“As a result, China and other countries that do not reflect our nation’s values have taken leadership posts at a number of inter-governmental organisations.”
