The U.S.-China Economic and Security Council (USCC) recently released a report entitled “Chinese Nationals Leading Major International Organizations. According to Jameson Cunningham, USCC’s Director of Congressional Affairs, the purpose of the study was to focus on revealing which Chinese nationals are in leadership roles in major international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WTO), and the attendant influence. Of course, they do not indicate that these individuals are incompetent or insufficiently loyal, or whether they are agents of the Chinese Communist Party.
The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, just announced in early May the appointment of four new Deputy Directors General (Deputy Secretaries General) of the WTO, including Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Zhang Xiangchen. Zhang Xiangchen has worked in the field of international trade for more than 30 years and was China’s permanent representative to the WTO from 2017 to 2020, and has a long history of research on issues related to the WTO and international trade negotiations.
This USCC study is, essentially, a kind of U.S. government review, so to speak. Of course, unlike the Chinese Communist Party’s infamous “political vetting” (organizational vetting), which persecutes dissidents and opponents, it is intended to see whether these Chinese nationals can serve the UN independently and impartially, and whether they can truly work for the UN and the people of the world, rather than for the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling clique. Basically, it is frying these Chinese Communist officials on the grill to see if they actually dare to do so; as soon as they dare to stand up for the Chinese Communist Party and entrap their private goods, they will be exposed and the world will be famous.
Anyone with even a modicum of sketchy knowledge of mainland Chinese politics and society knows that everyone from China who serves in international organizations is not simply and casually selected, tested, or stood out on their own from among ordinary Chinese citizens who have the qualifications and abilities to do so. Many of these people have turned around and become UN officials directly from their positions as senior Communist Party officials. The dilemma these people face is that if they really play by the UN rules and give their allegiance to the UN, they are destined to be involved in the rights and designs of the CCP. So, for these CCP diplomats or agents, these appointments and inaugurations are also double-edged swords for them personally: they have access to international organizations and serve the international community; but they may also become double-sided allegiances because of their allegiance to the CCP, and once they cross the line on their duties, they will also have a lot of consequences, which will constitute a loss for themselves and for the UN.
The USCC list includes Chinese nationals in positions of responsibility in various international organizations and institutions: international organizations, major UN agencies, UN funds and programs, UN specialized agencies, other UN-related organizations, international trade and financial institutions, and a variety of other international organizations, among others. A closer look at this list reveals a wide variety of international organizations held and headed by Chinese Communist officials. WHO, WIPO, etc., to IMF, World Bank, WTO, IAEA, INTERPOL, IOC, etc.
Many of the Chinese nationals serving in these organizations and agencies are professionals, technocrats, and more often than not, came from the relevant ministries of the Chinese Communist government, and almost all have an international perspective, graduate education from Europe and the United States, and experience in operating international organizations. But what these individuals deliberately avoid in their public biographies is whether they are members of the CCP, their ties to the CCP, and the branches of the CCP they belong to at home and abroad. Naturally, this is what the U.S. government and the international community are most concerned about, to see how the CCP will influence these Chinese nationals, whether they will be able to operate independently as professionals, loyal to the United Nations or their respective organizations, or whether they will be “loyal to the motherland,” “red-hearted to the Party,” or “red-headed to the Party. red heart for the Party” and “heart for the motherland and eyes for the world”!
The United Nations was born in San Francisco, California, on October 24, 1945, and now has 193 member states plus two observers. The UN Charter stipulates that employees of the UN organization, must be completely and totally independent. Chapter 15, Article 100 of the UN Charter, regarding the UN Secretariat, states very clearly: “I. In the performance of their duties, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the staff shall not request or receive instructions from any government or other authority external to the Organization, and shall refrain from actions which would impair their international I. The Secretary-General of the United Nations and the staff, in the performance of their duties, shall not request or receive instructions from any government or other authority external to the Organization and shall refrain from acts which would impair their status as international officials. The Secretary-General and the staff shall be responsible exclusively to the Organization. 2. The Members of the United Nations undertake to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General and of the staff and in no way to seek to influence the discharge of their responsibilities.” Obviously, this will be difficult for Chinese nationals, and difficult for the Chinese Communist government.
Professor Edwin Fedder of Hollins College, in an article in the Western Political Science Quarterly as early as 1962, discussed the role and influence of the U.S. government’s “loyalty program” among those employed by the United Nations and other international organizations. The role and influence of the U.S. government’s “loyalty program” among those employed by the United Nations and other international organizations is an issue that has not been thoroughly studied. He was referring to a 1952 investigation in which the U.S. Senate, in a December 1952 hearing on domestic security, looked into the involvement of several U.S. citizens employed by the United Nations in subversive actions against the United States. The grand jury’s decision said that an alarming number of disloyal U.S. citizens, involved in infiltrating the UN organization!
Corporate management, the leadership of companies and businesses, are particularly concerned about employee loyalty. In fact, dozens of U.S. students, from professors at American universities to researchers at large companies, have been compelled, tempted, and bribed by the Chinese Communist Party to participate in its “Thousand Talents Program,” and have been arrested by the U.S. authorities. personal ethics and legal norms. Studies have shown that employees who have been with a company for a long time are not necessarily loyal, nor do they necessarily embrace the company’s corporate culture and support its growth goals. Employees who are truly ethical and conscientious have many characteristics. For example, they are resilient, committed, and leaders; they take pride in their work and have respect for the company; they have strong instincts and are willing to learn without being tempted, etc.
In 1949, Trygve Lie, then the first Secretary-General of the United Nations and a Norwegian national, overruled the objections of Russia, Canada, and the United Nations employees’ organizations to investigate their loyalty to the United States. UN employees’ organizations to investigate the loyalty of UN employees and whether they were infiltrated by communism. Later, in the 1975s, the FBI found that most of the subversive acts were not committed by U.S. citizens, but more by Russian/Soviet citizens. It is believed that by today, most of the operators of anti-American and pro-communist acts are also mostly not Russian citizens, but people sent by the Chinese Communist Party.
The United Nations Ethics Office (UN Ethics Office) also clearly states that in the Code of Ethics for UN Personnel, UN employees must be independent, loyal, impartial, honest, responsible and respectful of human rights. The UN itself established a special nine-member body back in the 1950s, a commission dedicated to investigating the loyalty of its employees and demanding that those who could not put the interests of the UN above those of their own country resign from their jobs at the UN!
The international community is certainly not opposed to the participation of Chinese and ethnic Chinese in leadership positions in international organizations, and Chinese from Taiwan and Hong Kong are highly respected. What is unacceptable to the international community is the representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), because these people can hardly really fulfill their duties, but may act as agents of the CCP, the CCP’s eyes and ears, the CCP’s mouthpiece, or even the CCP’s thugs or sharpshooters to carry out the CCP’s will and accomplish the CCP’s mission. All of this worrisome possibility is dictated by the identity of these individuals as members of the CCP and the reality that they have no personal will and must serve the CCP or their lives are in danger.
The U.S. scrutiny of Chinese nationals in international organizations is actually very good. This may have multiple effects: first, truly independent and professional people can contribute what they have learned, serve humanity, and slowly develop independent personalities and become global citizens, while those who are the eyes and ears and minions of the CCP will not dare to act excessively and will not serve the purpose of the CCP; second, CCP expatriates will slowly learn and get used to international norms and become compelled to develop the habit of compliance, and they will also They will slowly become hardened and may no longer be willing to do the CCP’s bidding, or there will be more absconding, defections, and defection. Third, once the CCP realizes that the released expatriate cadres may be out of control, it may not dare to send more or hide private goods, leaving talented ethnic Chinese free to play their role in serving the UN.
Therefore, Zhongnanhai’s casting a net around and spreading its eyes and ears, under the strict scrutiny of Washington and in full view of the whole world, may be a blind rush and a waste of effort, adding to the laughing stock of the world watching the Chinese Communist Party’s performance. The UN’s Ethics Office, a body independent of all other UN departments, also provides a layer of protection for world citizens unwilling to serve authoritarian regimes through advice, protection against retaliation, financial disclosure, ethics and consistency of standards in order to ensure the highest standards of integrity for staff.
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