BEIJING, Oct 8 (Reuters) – China has nominated health official Song Li to lead the World Health Organization, it said on Thursday, confirming a Reuters report that Song had been put forward to succeed the incumbent director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
If elected, China believes Song Li will help the WHO to play a more active role in improving health and wellbeing of all mankind, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters.
“The development of global health has a long way to go. The role of the director-general of WHO is particularly important in how to make steady progress,” Mao said.
“China’s nomination helps to jointly promote the construction of a health global community and demonstrates China’s firm support for multilateralism,” she added.
Beijing has long sought more responsibility within UN agencies and other multilateral bodies, and the United States under President Donald Trump is winding down its engagement with the UN and some of its constituent organizations.
Song, a senior public health official, has 20 years’ expertise in maternal and child health policy and international cooperation. She played an active role in national responses to major public health crises including SARS, bird flu outbreaks and COVID-19, according to an official bio.
She was also editor in chief of a COVID-19 prevention and control Q&A paper in 2020 to set national standards for managing maternal and child health during the pandemic.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised the WHO’s handling of the pandemic and accused it of bias toward China – where COVID-19 originated – accusations that the WHO rejects.
The WHO will release the complete list of nominees after final regional committee meetings, expected in early November.
Six candidates, representing Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Qatar, Botswana, Indonesia and Spain, have already made their identities public on the WHO’s website.
A former WHO senior official said China may use the candidature as leverage to gain greater influence in the WHO by making sure there are more Chinese senior officials at the organization.
(Reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva; writing by Farah Master; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Philippa Fletcher)
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