Elise Stefanik Vows to Counter China's 'Significant Inroads'

Elise Stefanik, US President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as America’s top envoy to the United Nations, has vowed to counter China’s ascendant influence and “significant inroads” at the intergovernmental body.

At her Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday to serve as US ambassador to the UN, the Republican congresswoman from New York outlined plans to push back against what she described as China’s systematic efforts to expand its presence in UN agencies and gain support among developing countries.

“China has made significant inroads within the Global South and even within the Western hemisphere,” she testified. “They’ve done it by building ports. They’ve done it through telecoms. It’s really been a whole-of-government approach.”

Stefanik pledged to focus on “ensuring US taxpayer dollars support well-functioning UN entities” while advancing strategies to vie with Beijing’s infrastructure investments across the developing world.

Asked about comprehensive reform at the Security Council, a powerful UN body in which the US has veto power, she did not commit to advocating for the inclusion of members from the Global South, an idea floated by the Joe Biden administration.

“It is very complex. It is very challenging,” she said. “I would want to work with this committee and of course the president primarily on any proposals for UN Security Council reform.”

The Trump nominee also stated China was working to place its diplomats in leadership positions in UN technical organisations while building clout at junior levels.

“Between 2009 and 2021, Communist China has increased its employment of its nationals in the UN by 85 per cent,” Stefanik told senators. “We need to have strong American leadership working with our allies to push back.”

In addition, she promised a comprehensive review of US engagement at various levels of the UN such that Washington either directly appoints or works to support the appointment of partners and allies to key positions.

Stefanik touted the importance of coordinating with American partners and allies so “that we have a strategy to ensure that the CCP is not able to make inroads at the most senior levels of these technical organisations and of agencies across the UN writ large”.

Her comments follow Trump’s decision a day earlier to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, carried out in one of a slew of executive orders he signed hours after his presidential inauguration.

Scientists have blasted the move as a setback in the fight against infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, with Democratic lawmakers saying it could open the door to greater Chinese sway at the WHO.

Stefanik said she “strongly” supported Trump’s decision, singling out the WHO as an institution “taken over by CCP propaganda”. But she would seek opportunities to engage in global health debates in other UN forums, she added.

A vocal China critic, Stefanik has spearheaded multiple legislative efforts in the House of Representatives against Beijing, including backing a federal procurement ban on mainland-made drones and blocking Chinese land purchases near US military bases.

And she co-sponsored the Strategic Competition Act of 2021 aimed at countering Chinese influence through diplomatic and economic measures.

Last year, Stefanik criticised what she called “Communist China’s blatant and malicious election interference” following reports of alleged Chinese hacking attempts targeting Trump and now US Vice-President J.D. Vance.

On Tuesday, she committed to advocating for Taiwan’s participation in international organisations, citing her record of supporting defensive aid to the island.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.

Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

“I believe deeply in deterrence to avoid war in the Indo-Pacific,” Stefanik testified.