Beijing has promised to continue supporting the World Health Organization even after President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US.

Ooh, that’s a big one,” Donald Trump said Monday as he signed an executive order – one of dozens during his first hours as president – to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization.

China’s Foreign Ministry criticized President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization, offering an initial look at how Beijing intends to present itself as a force for stability in global affairs during the new administration.

Beijing would become the undisputed champion of global health if it chose to close the funding gap caused by the looming US withdrawal

Just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization

The United States will leave the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.

The news comes after the CIA announced over the weekend that COVID-19 most likely originated from a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2020.

President Trump stopped short of setting down fresh tariffs on China in his first hours in office, but he cited Beijing in signing several of his executive orders, including decisions to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization,

More than half of Americans believe the U.S. benefits from its membership in the WHO. As of April 2024, 25% of U.S. adults say the country benefits a great deal from its membership, while about one third say it benefits a fair amount. Conversely, 38% say the U.S. does not benefit much or at all from WHO membership.

President Trump’s decision to pull out of the international health agency could deprive the United States of crucial scientific data and lessen the country’s influence in setting a global health agenda.

The United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate accords and World Health Organization opens a power vacuum for adversaries like China to fill.

Conservatives are pushing Trump to distance himself from global health authorities, which experts believe could undermine future pandemic responses.