Eli Lake, Columnist

China’s Participation in the WHO Comes at a Price

The regime has a history of using international organizations to advance its national interests.

April 9, 2020 at 11:00 PM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

On the hot seat.
Photographer: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP

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When President Donald Trump mused that he may withhold America’s generous annual contribution to the World Health Organization because of the poor leadership of its director general, he failed to mention one inconvenient fact: His administration initially supported Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in 2017.

Three years ago, Ghebreyesus was seen as a flawed but qualified candidate for WHO director general. As Ethiopia’s health minister from 2005 to 2012, he had experience dealing with several cholera outbreaks. But he was also accused of covering them up by one of his rivals for the position.