Four diplomats and another source said Beijing plans to nominate public health official Song Li to succeed Tedros. Song and China's Geneva mission had not commented when Reuters published.
China plans to put forward a late candidate to lead the World Health Organization, four diplomats and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The sources said Beijing intends to nominate Song Li, a senior public health official with 20 years in maternal and child health policy and international cooperation, to succeed Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Song and the Chinese mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The nomination was not confirmed by an official Chinese statement in the story. A diplomatic source said the planned bid was a sign China wanted to fill a void after the United States left the WHO.
Reuters said the agency has been restructuring after losing its largest donor, scaling back work, cutting senior roles and eliminating thousands of jobs. The WHO leads international responses to outbreaks, including the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Six candidates, from Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Qatar, Botswana, Indonesia and Spain, have already made their identities public on the WHO website, Reuters reported. The agency will release the full nominee list after final regional committee meetings, expected in early November.
Until Beijing or Song confirms the plan, the candidacy remains a sourced report rather than an official entry. The next public marker is the WHO nominee list.
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- A diplomatic source told Reuters the planned nomination showed China wanted to fill a void left by the US withdrawal.