The Sankei Shimbun reported how China has used economic assistance to infiltrate international organizations and strengthen its influence within UN specialized agencies, including the WHO. From the beginning of the Wuhan virus outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros praised China’s response, while the declaration of a global health emergency and recognition of a pandemic were delayed. Through Belt and Road support, China has drawn African countries closer and secured key posts in international organizations. This essay examines the WHO’s pro-China posture and the meaning of the counteroffensive launched by the United States.

May 10, 2020

Even so, the process by which China came to control the WHO, and the WHO’s words and actions from the outbreak of the Wuhan virus to the present, are nothing but a country farce.

A reader of this column posted a photograph showing that the physiognomy of WHO Director-General Tedros and that of Aichi Governor Omura are exactly alike.
Even so, the process by which China came to control the WHO, and the WHO’s words and actions from the outbreak of the Wuhan virus to the present, are nothing but a country farce.
The Sankei Shimbun is now the most decent newspaper not only in Japan, but in the world.
The following is from a major article published in today’s Sankei Shimbun under the headline:
“China Lures with Aid and Takes Control of the WHO.”
This article is true reporting written by genuine journalists.
On the other hand, the reporting of television broadcasters, beginning with NHK, is not reporting at all.
It also makes clear that, just like the WHO, they are completely under Chinese operations.

Targeting International Organizations in Which the United States Has Little Interest.

China had quietly infiltrated key posts in international organizations.
What made us recognize this reality was the movement of the World Health Organization, WHO, over the novel coronavirus.

Praising China’s Epidemic Response.

January 28 was the day on which attention focused on whether the WHO would declare a
“public health emergency of international concern.”
WHO Director-General Tedros flew to Beijing, met with President Xi Jinping, and said the following:
“Actions as swift and large-scale as China’s are rarely seen anywhere in the world.
They showed China’s efficiency and the strength of its system.”

At the emergency committee meeting on the 23rd, the WHO had postponed declaring an emergency, saying it was
“too early.”
It finally issued the declaration on the 30th, but did not recommend travel restrictions.
It was March 11 when the WHO expressed its recognition that the outbreak was a
“pandemic,”
a worldwide epidemic.

In January, the WHO downplayed the possibility of
“human-to-human transmission”
and insisted that
“travel bans are not necessary.”
Tedros continued to praise China’s response, including the lockdown of Wuhan, Hubei Province, the source of the virus outbreak.

In a speech on March 11, U.S. National Security Adviser O’Brien accused China of carrying out
“cover-up activities”
at the initial stage of confirming the virus, and said that
“responses by countries around the world were delayed by two months.”
The United States and others are strengthening the view that the WHO cooperated with China and allowed the infection to spread throughout the world.

Ethiopia, Tedros’s home country, is regarded as a model country for China’s gigantic economic-zone initiative, the Belt and Road, and receives huge infrastructure investment from China in railways, electricity supply, and other fields.
In the 2017 election for WHO director-general, China backed Tedros, who had emphasized the importance of
“cooperation with China.”
This is a major reason why the WHO’s response fell behind in the fight against a virus said to be the greatest crisis since the Second World War.

The United Nations, the core of international organizations, was conceived under American leadership during the Second World War.
The draft of the UN Charter was prepared mainly by U.S. Secretary of State Hull and then made concrete through coordination among the United States, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.
In accordance with the American policy of dealing not only with collective security but also with economic and social issues common to the world, specialized agencies were established one after another and became the foundation of the postwar world order.

In 2007, for the first time, one of those agencies, the WHO, had a director-general from China.
That was Margaret Chan, from Hong Kong.
From there, China’s advance into international organizations began.

In 2015, partly triggered by controversy over the name Middle East respiratory syndrome, MERS, the WHO created a rule that geographical names should not be included when naming infectious diseases.
This has become the basis for rebuttals against the present United States calling the novel coronavirus the
“Wuhan virus”
and other such names.

Movements to exclude Taiwan also strengthened in accordance with China’s claim of
“one China.”
Since 2017, Taiwan has not even been invited to the World Health Assembly as an observer.
Taiwan, which had originally been a member of the United Nations as the Republic of China, has become a blank area in the field of global public health.

Leading Rule-Making.

“International organizations can be broadly divided into those whose main axis is field activities such as support for the poor, and those whose main axis is the creation of rules and norms.
Recently China has become interested in the latter and is approaching them.”
A former diplomat familiar with international organizations explains this.

What China particularly targeted were organizations in which the United States and others showed little interest.
In elections by member states to decide the heads of organizations, China draws African countries toward itself with economic assistance as bait, and gets Chinese candidates or candidates close to China elected.
Furthermore, China not only pays assessed contributions to operate the organizations, but also makes voluntary contributions, thereby strengthening its voice.

China currently holds the top posts in four of the 15 UN specialized agencies.
It is conquering one by one the fortresses built around the United States, and expanding its own
“norms.”
If it is moving toward Chinese-led global governance that Xi calls a
“community with a shared future for mankind,”
then it is a grave threat to the democratic camp.

The United States, the largest contributor to the WHO, lost patience and began a drastic treatment.
In April, the Trump administration declared that it would examine the WHO’s efforts regarding the novel coronavirus, and would suspend contributions during that period.

“If the organization does not function, the United States, together with partner countries, will create a framework, form, or governance model that can realize the original purpose of the WHO.”
Secretary of State Pompeo said this on a radio program on April 23, and even mentioned the possibility of launching a separate international health organization.

It is not yet clear what reforms the ultimatum presented by the United States will bring to international organizations.
However, there is no doubt that the novel coronavirus that struck the world has further strengthened America’s resolve to fight authoritarianism.

Masako Nagato.
Washington, Yoshinari Kurose.
Paris, Mina Mitsui.