Washington poked the panda on Tuesday, publicly criticizing the legacy of Beijing’s now-defunct one-child policy, and triggering a sharp Chinese rebuttal accusing the United States of risking millions of lives with its steep aid cuts.
Speaking at a meeting of the executive board of three United Nations agencies — the U.N. Population Fund, the U.N. Development Programme, and the U.N. Office for Project Services — U.S. diplomat Jonathan Shrier urged the U.N.’s reproductive health agency to halt its partnership with China, saying “UNFPA should not be complicit in China’s population control.”
Shrier also chided the aid agency for devoting “precious” funding resources to a technical assistance program for “the second largest economy in the world.”
About the author
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
