America is Back, but China Never Left: How the Biden Administration Intends to Rebuild US Leadership in the UN

The United States surrendered much of its leadership in the United Nations (U.N.) under the Trump administration. Although Congress funded U.N. entities at higher levels than proposed by the administration, numerous budget cuts did push through. The Biden administration has pledged to reengage with the United Nations and challenge China’s leadership ambitions on the global stage. But while the Biden administration has proclaimed that “America is back,” China never left. America needs to simultaneously raise its status and the status of its allies and partners in order to achieve this, but China’s strong advances in America’s absence make this increasingly difficult.

It will take far more than funneling money and concentrating engagement in the U.N. for the U.S. to regain its leadership and preserve the integrity of multilateralism. The Biden administration must seek bipartisan consultation and support as much as possible to ensure that his multilateral policies survive after his administration. Without this assurance, U.N. member states cannot be blamed for wondering if the next administration will dismantle the progress made during Biden’s tenure. If honest efforts are made to include bipartisanship in Biden’s U.N. policy, it reduces the likelihood that a subsequent Republican administration will do so.

The Trump administration’s overall disdain for the multilateral system has caused long-lasting damage to U.S. standings, creating a vacuum that China has been eager to fill. Although Congress funded U.N. entities at higher levels than proposed by the Trump administration, numerous budget cuts did push through. China is now second only to the U.S. in providing assessed contributions to the U.N., leads four of the fifteen U.N. specialized agencies, and has increasingly exercised its veto power in institutions like the Security Council. American leaders on both sides of the aisle look at these trends with greater alarm.

In response, the Biden administration has pledged to reengage with the United Nations and address China’s expanding footprint there. On November 24, 2020, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, President Biden’s Ambassador to the United Nations, declared that “America is back. Multilateralism is back. Diplomacy is back.” According to her, America will reestablish its leadership at the U.N. first by honoring its financial dues and secondly by ensuring that the U.S. continues to have a seat at the table. This includes U.N. institutions, such as the Human Rights Council, that are perceived as often leaning in favor of China and other states with interests opposing America’s. With U.S.-China competition set to reignite on the multilateral platform, what options and pathways exist for America to take?

China and the U.S. are waging a war of principles at the U.N.

The Communist Party of China sees itself in a long-term struggle against many of the universal values propagated by the United States. In this regard, China’s leadership has been explicitly making the case that its economic and diplomatic models are superior to America’s. To respond to this, the Biden administration believes that refurbishing the fundamental foundations of U.S. democracy, ranging from the democratic system itself to economic inequality issues, will further establish that American footprint at the multilateral level.

The United Nations is a major battleground for this war of principles. Many believe that China has used the U.N. Human Rights Council, for instance, to redefine many of these concepts to be more palatable to its system of governance. Beyond the ideological battleground, China also utilizes its position in the United Nations to advance its other agendas, such as promoting its own companies like Huawei. Additionally, there are growing bodies of evidence indicating that U.N. organizations led by China, like the International Telecommunication Union, provides a friendlier forum that will help set international norms based on its own principles of governance.

Biden aims to restore multilateralism

The Biden administration’s National Security Council and State Department are fully cognizant of how China has taken advantage of the power vacuum created by the Trump administration’s decision to disengage with the United Nations. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan outlined the Biden administration’s priorities, indicating that an initial emphasis on the domestic side is a critical first step, “Foreign policy is domestic policy and domestic policy is foreign policy…. Right now, the most profound national security challenge facing the United States is… domestic renewal…. We have to put ourselves in a position of strength to be able to face the challenges we deal with around the world.” From this “position of strength”, the U.S. would then be able to adequately invest in its allies and have a stronger voice at the table. Once back at the table, the Biden administration has stressed that the U.S. must speak clearly and consistently about its values and interests at all levels of government, something that was lacking during the Trump administration.

Biden has indicated that the U.S. will be most effective in advancing its vision at the U.N. if done in concert with U.S. allies and partners in Europe and Asia. This chorus of voices would drive the idea that the U.S. will stand up for a particular set of principles in the face of aggression against them. Another major concern is whether the U.S. and its partners, or China and its partners, will ultimately lead the world on key emerging technologies and decide global standards. The U.S. needs to stay on the cutting edge of these emerging technologies and collaborate with allies and partners to lead in these areas at the U.N. The last piece that the Biden administration has stressed is that the U.S. must speak and act consistently on the issues that matter to it, such as human rights.

Countering China at the U.N. will occur from both within and outside of it

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield has labeled China a “strategic adversary” and has pledged to address them in all areas, particularly in the Human Rights Council. She said, “I commit to [countering] China at the U.N., to fight against all efforts by the Chinese to government to add harmful language to the U.N. resolutions, and to resist China’s efforts to overfill key U.N. positions with Chinese citizens.” Amb. Thomas-Greenfield is likely to advocate for working with U.S. allies and partners to propose making membership far more competitive by making elections to sit on the Council require a 2/3 vote rather than a simple majority vote. The reverse could also be enacted – lowering the vote threshold from a 2/3 vote to a majority vote to suspend sitting members.

Washington also has a vital role to play. Just as Congress limited the Trump administration’s ability to reduce U.N. funding to its desired level, so too can Congress choose to support or restrict Biden. On areas where Biden seeks to limit Chinese influence at the U.N., Biden will likely expect bipartisan support, as indicated by the introduction of S. 2528 (116^th), a bipartisan bill that would instruct the Director of National Intelligence to submit to Congress a report on the purpose, scope, and means of expanded Chinese influence in international organizations. Although this bill did not move forward, the current atmosphere surrounding the U.S.-China relationship indicates it is unlikely to be the last of its type.

USAID, which provides the majority of U.S. funding and programmatic engagement to the U.N., will be another critical player. In this regard, former U.S. ambassador Samantha Powers nomination to USAID signals that the Biden administration is committed to restoring U.S. leadership at the U.N. During her Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Powers stated, “China is using its economic leverage and heft… often a predatory way, not only to change governing practices within countries but… in the United Nations to… leverage financial commitments to change the rules of the road altogether and to water down international human rights commitments.” Although this sentiment continues to be expressed by Biden administration officials and nominees, few actionable steps have been taken at the United Nations itself. Yet, officials across all levels of government stress the need for joint actions to be made with its allies and partners, which has already occurred at the governmental level. This is evidenced by the joint sanctions placed by the U.S., United Kingdom, European Union, and Canada on China as a result of its human rights abuses.

China’s chair at the U.N. is bigger than when the U.S. left and they will not willingly cede this ground back. Therefore, any policy that the U.S. pushes at the United Nations needs to first be evaluated in the context of its U.S.-China policy. Biden recognizes this, which is why he has elevated the roles of USAID to the National Security Council and the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. back to the cabinet-level. Those setting policy agendas will be able to more easily cooperate their efforts to address China at the multilateral level in a way that is coherent with the rest of Biden’s government. The founding principles of the United Nations are under threat of being twisted into serving authoritarian powers, which will threaten the legitimacy of the institution’s ideals of equality and self-determination, respect of human rights, and the fundamentals of justice and international law. However, if President Biden believes that blindly fire hosing more money and engagement back into the United Nations is enough to regain influence at the U.N. and preserve its founding principles without considering whether his policies will survive the next administration, then this strategy is unlikely to succeed.

This article was originally published on The China Guys Coffee Vs. Tea Newsletter on March 10, 2021 and was updated on April 22, 2021.