China is making a concerted effort to expand its influence throughout the United Nations (UN), taking advantage of Donald Trump’s disdain for multilateralism to place officials and push Beijing’s agenda more aggressively, according to western diplomats. After cuts to US foreign aid prompted what could be the UN’s most radical restructuring in decades, China has stepped up attempts to fill the vacuum, particularly in the Swiss diplomatic hub of Geneva, multiple officials and diplomats told the Financial Times. This has included increasing its personnel footprint, building voting coalitions, and in some cases, financial contributions to entrench its position in a city called the “kitchen of global diplomacy”, with more than 450 international bodies. Agencies of particular interest to China include the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which sets global communications standards, and the World Health Organization (WHO), according to western officials. China has long sought ...
