2023-07-03 22:30:17
Biologist specializing in plants and genetics, doctor of the agricultural university of Wageningen in the Netherlands, considered one of the best European universities on the subject, Qu Dongyu had succeeded in 2019 to the Brazilian José Graziano da Silva.
Aged 59, the Chinese leader was deputy minister of agriculture in his country before taking over as head of the UN agency in 2019. At the time, his election in the first round was considered a mark of Chinese interest in food issues and in positions of responsibility in international bodies.
Opening of the World Food Forum, in October 2022Image: Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto/picture alliance
China’s Shadow
An interest from China that makes Westerners cringe: at the end of June, the German public service presented a television documentary entitled: “China. Might. Eat.which discusses Beijing’s grip on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. A documentary that suggests China has used the FAO for geopolitical purposes.
According to this research, there are particular indications that Chinese leaders made offers to other countries in exchange for their vote in Qu Dongyu’s first election.
FAO headquarters are located in Rome, Italy Image: Federica Roselli/NurPhoto/picture alliance
Controversial pesticides
Also according to the documentary, the Chinese leader then appointed directors who had worked for a long time within the Chinese state apparatus in the past. In particular, this would have made it possible to deliver controversial pesticides to Africa, Asia and Oceania, primarily pesticides from the Chinese agrochemical group Syngenta, but also from the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer.
For Christoph Heusgen, former German ambassador to the UN, “China is now stepping out of Russia’s wake and gaining confidence. The country wants to replace the United States as a world power. And China is trying to do this through the United Nations, among other things.“, assures the current director of the Munich Security Conference.
Contacted by the ARD, the FAO declined to comment.
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