After the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), China actively expanded its influence in the organization. Not only did it formally nominate public health official Song Li to run for secretary-general, Beijing also made a high-profile announcement in May last year that it would provide an additional US$500 million (approximately NT$15.9 billion) to the WHO in the next five years. However, nearly 17 months have passed, how much of this financial aid has been realized? At present, public information still cannot directly verify the performance amount.
On the day he took office on January 20, 2025, US President Trump signed an executive order to initiate the process of withdrawing from the WHO. The United States announced its official withdrawal on January 22 this year. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health Jim O'Neill even criticized the WHO for losing its due function at the time, saying that Taiwan had warned the WHO about unknown pneumonia in Wuhan as early as the end of 2019, but the WHO ignored Taiwan's voice and missed the opportunity to prevent the epidemic. However, the WHO took a different stance on this statement, emphasizing that it had taken notification and response measures based on the epidemic information it had at the time.
With the withdrawal of the United States, the WHO has lost its long-term largest financial donor, and other countries have cut aid, and financial pressure has increased sharply. According to the Chosun Ilbo disclosure on the 7th, WHO not only laid off more than 2,000 employees, but also eliminated about 1,280 positions. The WHO will cut its basic budget from 2026 to 2027 by 21%, from US$5.3 billion to US$4.2 billion. Headquarters departments will also be consolidated from 76 to 34, and the number of senior managers will be reduced from 14 to 7.
According to internal WHO documents obtained by Reuters in November last year, the organization had 9,401 employees in January 2025. As of June this year, the number had decreased by 2,371 due to factors such as layoffs and voluntary resignations. Current WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus admitted in a message to staff at the time that 2025 would be "one of the most difficult years in the history of WHO."
Just as the WHO is facing a funding crisis, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong announced at the World Health Assembly on May 20, 2025 that an additional US$500 million will be provided to the WHO in the next five years to support global public health cooperation. However, not all of the US$500 million is new voluntary contributions in addition to statutory dues. The Chinese delegation in Geneva explained at the time that the funds included increased statutory dues, voluntary contributions, and project support through the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, but the specific allocation amount of each fund was not announced.
It is worth noting that the WHO’s fundraising announcement on May 20, 2025 clearly listed Switzerland’s commitment of US$80 million, Sweden’s US$13.5 million, and Qatar’s US$6 million. However, China’s investment in the fundraising plan was marked as “to be confirmed.”
Although the WHO has records of statutory dues and voluntary contributions, it has not provided a complete performance form that directly corresponds to the entire commitment. Therefore, how much Beijing has cashed out cannot be confirmed based on existing public information alone. However, so far, China’s official public information does not include details of the cumulative allocation of the US$500 million commitment.
