Biden's U.N. pick to warn that U.S. absence allows China to thrive at world body

[January 27, 2021]  By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations will stress on Wednesday the importance of U.S. re-engagement with the 193-member world body in order to challenge efforts by China to "drive an authoritarian agenda."

Veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield is due to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for her confirmation hearing. She is a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service who has served on four continents, most notably in Africa.

"We know China is working across the U.N. system to drive an authoritarian agenda that stands in opposition to the founding values of the institution - American values," Thomas-Greenfield will say, according to excerpts from her statement.
 

"Their success depends on our continued withdrawal. That will not happen on my watch," she will say.

Beijing has been pushing for greater multilateral influencein a challenge to traditional U.S. leadership. Tensionsbetween the two superpowers have hit a boiling point at theUnited Nations over the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Former President Donald Trump was critical of the United Nations and wary of the value of multilateralism. He announced plans to quit the World Health Organization, and pulled out of the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, a global climate change accord and the Iran nuclear deal.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's choice to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, speaks as President-elect Biden announces his national security nominees and appointees at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 24, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

On his first day in office last week, Biden rescinded the U.S. decision to withdraw from the WHO and announced a return to the climate agreement.

"When America shows up, when we are consistent and persistent, when we exert our influence in accordance with our values, the United Nations can be an indispensable institution for advancing peace, security, and our collective well-being," Thomas-Greenfield will say.

"If instead we walk away from the table, and allow others to fill the void, the global community suffers — and so do American interests," she will say.

If confirmed, Thomas-Greenfield will join counterparts with decades of experience in diplomacy from Britain, France, China and Russia - which along with the United States - make up the U.N. Security Council's five permanent veto-wielding members.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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