China's United Nations Food Takeover Effort

A photo of the Director General of the United Nations Food agency and China's agriculture minister appears to convey a message that China and the UN are one and the same. The photo shows Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) director Qu Dongyu--a former Vice Minister of Agriculture in China--standing side by side with Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian in identical poses, wearing identical suits, and even similar body shapes and hairstyles--only the neckties are different--with the Chinese and UN flags also side-by-side in the background. Neither the photo nor the meeting report were posted on the English version of the Agriculture Ministry's web site, so we can conclude this was meant for a Chinese audience.

China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs publicity photo of UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Qu Dongyu and China Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian.

Qu Dongyu was elected Director General of the UN's FAO in 2019, and he is now seeking a second 4-year term. Qu had an early career as an agricultural scientist, earned a doctorate in potato genetics from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and served as deputy director of China's Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Then he took up a political post as deputy chairman of Ningxia Autonomous Region in 2011 and served as China's Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2015-19 where he was in charge of interfacing with international organizations, including the FAO. 

Qu attained the FAO Director General post in an election tainted by allegations of bribery and manipulation of the voting process. U.S. officials were concerned that Qu's election would allow China to use FAO to promote its Belt and Road Initiative and other Chinese goals, but their support for two other candidates failed to prevent Qu's election. Two scholars from Taiwan presented the election of Qu and three other Chinese nationals to UN bodies as examples of "How China is Remaking the UN it its Own Image."

During Qu's visit to China last week, the FAO DG and Chinese agriculture minister heaped praise on one another. Chinese Minister Tang praised FAO's work on global food and agriculture governance and its role in promoting food security and sustainable development. Qu pointed to China's "huge accomplishments" in agriculture and rural development. Director Qu thanked the Chinese Government for its contribution to preserving food security in China and worldwide. 

Tang pledged to deepen FAO-China cooperation in "South-South Cooperation," which means developing countries working together without interference by pushy Americans and Europeans. Its "South-South" obsession is possible because China claims to be a "developing country" despite having the world's second-largest GDP and spending billions to reshape the world with its Belt and Road Initiative. Other areas for FAO-China cooperation are global food security, poverty reduction, and the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. 

On the same day, Director General Qu met with Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, where similar praise and pledges flowed. Ma promised to "join hands" with FAO to work on global food and anti-poverty initiatives, surely a reference to Qu's pet "Hand-in-Hand" initiative at FAO.

FAO Director General Qu is on the left in his meeting with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Ma. Suits are similar but Minister Ma (on the right) is taller and is standing in a manner that make him appear superior, probably not accidental. Source: China Foreign Ministry.

A Chinese White Paper on Food Security posted on FAO's website the year Qu took up his post at FAO trumpeted China's contribution to global food security by maintaining its own food self-sufficiency and featured China's pledge to actively participate in global food and agriculture governance and South-South Cooperation. An article in the communist party's Study Times commenting on the White Paper hailed China's participation in in FAO and the World Food Program, its advocacy for countries in Africa and other developing nations, a report on China's progress toward 2030 Sustainable Development goals as a reference for other countries to follow, and China's role in formulating international rules for food, plant protection, pesticide residues, international transportation of grains, and specifications for wheat and corn.

A German scholar analyzed behind-the-scenes brawls at the FAO that have played out during Qu's tenure. Early on China backed off efforts to tie Belt-and-Road into UN programs. Another of Qu's initiatives is a global database project that froze out participation by Western countries. A European official expressed dismay that the database tracked social unrest around the world--criticized as outside FAO's mission. Director Qu also fended off an external review of FAO that planned to look at management reforms he instituted. Last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine created perhaps the biggest controversy as FAO refrained from analyzing or commenting on the war's impact on global food security until Western countries forced FAO to do so. The German scholar argued that FAO had been effectively marginalized in global food security efforts under Qu's leadership as responsibilities and funds were shifted to more trustworthy international organizations. 

An in-depth Politico investigation of Qu's reign at FAO found that Western diplomats are suspicious of Qu's initiatives that appear to align with China's diplomatic goals, quashing of FAO  by ethnic minority groups and NGOs, and an influx of Chinese underlings in departments who will influence rule-making and catalyze China's engagement with developing countries. Qu reportedly tried to manipulate an FAO food price database meant to increase the transparency of global food markets. Qu was said to be furious about the move to force FAO to analyze the Ukraine war's food security impacts, accusing his detractors of "politicizing" the FAO. Others praised Qu for improving management at the notoriously dysfunctional agency, and representatives from Africa said they are happy as long as money flows to programs in their countries. Americans are annoyed since the United States pays 22 percent of the FAO's bills while China pays only 12 percent.

Meanwhile, the campaign to re-elect Qu as FAO Director General continues. The Brazilian Government under President da Silva endorsed Mr. Qu for election to a new term as FAO director. Could this be a quid pro quo for China's approval of Brazilian corn exports last year? Next to the article is a link to another article announcing that China has granted 90 new Brazilian firms eligibility to export corn to China. The article predicted that Brazil's corn exports could surpass those of the United States in 2023.