US EditionCherry-picking influence: Why China is cautious about filling gaps left by US global retreat
- Earlier this month, Washington retreated from 66 global organisations, creating openings that analysts say Beijing will respond to cautiously and selectively.
- Beijing's domestic pressures — including the 15th Five-Year Plan — and the Communist Party's 21st Congress in 2027 raise costs and risks, limiting expansive external commitments.
- Areas such as development and capacity‑building could see China expand influence in UN DESA and regional gaps like SPREP and ReCAAP, increasing reliance on Chinese finance, assistance and technical missions.
- The International Law Commission stands out as an area of consequence, as China and Russia may shape draft texts without US influence, while analysts predict a more contested, uneven multipolar order.
- Analysts expect Beijing to `cherry‑pick` engagements, favouring multilateral channels like the United Nations that share burdens and emphasise controllability and fairness, fellow Sun Chenghao said, with decisions unfolding in the coming year.
16 Articles
16 Articles
The UN’s Withering Vine: A US Retreat from Global Governance
Image: AI generated / shutterstock.comBy Jordan RyanJan 19 2026 (IPS) The Trump administration’s recent announcement of its withdrawal from 66 international organisations has been met with a mixture of alarm and applause. While the headline number suggests a dramatic retreat from the world stage, a closer look reveals a more nuanced, and perhaps more insidious, strategy. The move is less a wholesale abandonment of the United Nations system and…
Trump’s withdrawal from 66 international organisations is a challenge to a global governance that perpetuates problems
Last week, we highlighted that President Donald Trump had signed a memorandum to withdraw the US from the UNFCCC, the UN’s foundational climate change treaty. The UNFCCC is one of the 66 international organisations named in the memorandum. Withdrawing from these 66 international organisations is a strategic break from a model of global governance that
1 year of Trump 2.0: From tariffs to Venezuela, how US president shook global order
In his first year back, Trump imposed tariffs averaging 27 per cent, deported 622,000 people, invoked the Alien Enemies Act, captured Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, launched strikes on Iran, pushed a 28-point Ukraine peace plan, exited 66 global bodies, and cut USAID by 95 per cent
Trumps Selective Exit From Global Groups Is Tamer Than Feared
The Trump administration's recent move to withdraw from 66 international organisations sounded like a bold "America First" foreign policy move, but will actually have little impact on US funds flowing to multilateral groups.
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