When it comes to global health, China is on President Trump's mind, and on the mind of his critics. On inauguration night, Trump signed an executive order aimed at pulling the U. As he did, he spoke about one thing: China.
He said China doesn't pay its fair share to the U. N health organization. At other times, he's said China " controls " WHO. Trump's critics point to the same concern โ China โ when condemning Trump's decision to sever ties with the WHO. China will," says Lawrence Gostin , a professor of global health law at Georgetown University. Similarly, Trump's executive action aimed at pausing almost all foreign aid for 90 days and hobbling much of the United States Agency for International Development's work have raised concerns about China.
They're going to China and Russia. Now, why would we help China? Experts say the dynamic between the U. Historically, the U. However, over the past two decades, China has ramped up its investments in low- and middle-income countries. And while much of that investment is in mining, transportation and energy, there is a growing focus on health, including through an initiative called the Health Silk Road. It is "very hard" to figure out exactly how much the Chinese government puts toward global health, says Yanzhong Huang , a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and a professor at Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy and International Relations.
Not only does China not disclose how much it spends or what it's trying to achieve, he says, but the money is flowing from various different branches of the Chinese government and not consolidated under one roof. And the aid is not going to just a few international organizations but to scores of different countries.
Academics have scoured official records and news stories to build a database called AidData that found China invested over a trillion dollars in more than 20, foreign development projects between and These estimates do indicate that China puts far less into global health than what the U.
