MEDIA
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23 November 2024: Washington Post
China’s activities at the United Nations are aimed at making “a point that they are here to lead to the reform of the global governance system to help it reflect what they see as a multipolar world today,” said Courtney Fung, an expert on China’s relationship with the United Nations at Macquarie University in Australia.”
23 November 2024: RTE
“"You’ve seen a lot more of a push from Beijing that they have solutions for the Gaza crisis, for the Ukraine war or for the ongoing Myanmar conflict," said Courtney Fung, non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
China will want to project a constant, firm, steady hand in global governance, in contrast to what was seen as a much more chaotic US withdrawal under the last Trump administration, she said.
But in the absence of US leadership, other countries may look to China for cash as well as crisis management, and that is not cost-free for Beijing.
"Then China actually has to come up with real, viable solutions versus broad initiatives and talking points," she said, "and that’s a very complicated space for Beijing to negotiate".”
3 October 2024: SCMP
“According to Courtney Fung, a non-resident fellow with Asia Society Australia, China has three objectives at the UN General Assembly: “to ensure developing countries accept China as a peer; to recast Beijing’s positions on human rights, development and security as standard fare and not deviant; and [to show] China’s policy approaches are more effective than those of the United States.”…
“Fung cited China’s repeated reference to “legitimate security concerns” in the context of the Ukraine war. She said this could be “interpreted as a comment towards ‘might makes right’, which is problematic for states that need rules to protect their sovereignty”.”
27 November 2023: BBC Chinese
“"The concept of 'community of shared future' is China's global governance vision, and this is compared to what Western countries support. ‘Rules-based international order’ or ‘liberal international order’.””
5 November 2023: Barron’s
“"China won't want to dwell on criticisms of its economic coercion or hostage diplomacy," Courtney Fung, scholar in residence with the Asia Society Australia, told AFP.”
3 November 2023: The New York Times
““China’s power projection in the region is raising eyebrows and challenging its own image as a responsible power.”
31 March 2023: Financial Times
““China is signalling to states that China can guide foreign policy solutions,” said Courtney Fung, an associate fellow at the Lowy Institute.”
23 March 2023: Foreign Policy
““You have to think twice about being made an example of for the position you take” on issues that are sensitive to China, like Xinjiang and human rights, she said. “While I think money matters, I don’t think money is the sole issue. China’s made it clear that it is invested in protecting its position and fighting back against those that are going to fight against it.” The ins and outs of UNESCO lists—and UNESCO operations more broadly—are esoteric, but they can be just as political as any other U.N. body. “UNESCO is one of those odd places where a bunch of cross-cutting issues that you think aren’t that sensitive can end up becoming sensitive, like this question of cultural recognition,” Fung said. “They’ve been pushing and working very hard to have recognition in that space.” China is very proud that it is among the countries with the most UNESCO-recognized sites, Fung added...”
19 December 2022: Neue Zürcher Zeitung
“Chinas Einfluss in der Uno nimmt zu – doch wie weit reicht er wirklich?” [China’s influence in the UN is increasing – but how far does it really reach?] , citing Lowy Institute Analysis.
15 November 2022: The New York Times
“But Mr. Xi’s reluctance to take a clearer stance on Ukraine, or to wade into the complicated task of seeking to stop the war, also showed the limits China faces should it seek to displace the United States as a global power broker, Ms. Fung said. Mr. Xi used the global platform of the G20 to promote a so-called Global Security Initiative, a vague proposal begun earlier this year to offer China’s solutions to international conflict and threats. The idea appears to be at least partly driven by the Chinese government’s sensitivity to criticisms that it failed to stand by its declared reverence for sovereignty when Russia invaded Ukraine. So far, the proposal was “an upgrade in China saying ‘I don’t like what the Americans have done,’ but it’s not entirely clear to me what Beijing is offering,” Ms. Fung said. “It’s still unclear to me what better answers they can offer to difficult questions.””
8 November 2022: The Wall Street Journal
“These leaders traveling to see Xi are reminders of China’s geopolitical heft, centering Beijing in international politics and enabling China to advance agendas legitimizing Xi’s diplomatic initiatives,” said Courtney J. Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University in Australia and a nonresident fellow of the Lowy Institute, a public-policy think tank.
10 October 2022: The Economist, Special Report: The world divided, The world China wants
”China often talks of being the second-largest donor to UN funds. When looking at “assessed contributions”, akin to a basic fee for membership, China is second-largest in nominal terms. But as a percentage of GDP, China’s contributions are about half as generous as those of Britain, France and Russia, a forthcoming Lowy Institute paper finds. China makes other, selective donations through trust funds that give it sway over specific projects.”20 June 2022: The Wire China
Courtney Fung on China’s Role in Crafting Global Governance in Cyberspace: "In this lightly edited interview, she discussed China’s concept of cyber sovereignty and its growing influence in multilateral organizations such as the United Nations."26 May 2022: Financial Times
”The initiative also seeks to counter the fallout from China’s support for Russia. “GSI is also a corrective for China’s Ukraine response, which has left states questioning China’s espoused commitment to multilateralism and international order,” said Courtney Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University.”25 April 2022: Foreign Policy
”For Courtney Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University in Australia who studies the role of China in international organizations, the U.S. pressure campaign is part of a test. “In pushing for the FAO [chief] to issue a public condemnation of the Russian invasion, the Biden administration is probing how China operates in multilateral institutions, another arena of strategic competition,” she said. “Do [Chinese] officials heading U.N. agencies adhere to China’s line of a Ukraine ‘situation’ or do they join the international community deploring the Ukraine war and the fall-out of the Russian invasion?” “China emphasizes technocratic, depoliticized global governance leadership,” she said. From the perspective of the Chinese government, she added, “the FAO successfully addressing the emerging food crisis is best done by Qu avoiding high politics and focusing on his institution’s mission of defeating hunger.””16 March 2022: The Guardian
”Dr Courtney J Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University and associate fellow at Chatham House, says China wants recognition as a responsible major country, but is applying this selectively when it comes to the invasion of Ukraine. “China focuses on second order issues that result from the Russian invasion – like humanitarian aid, civilian protection, evacuation – and while these are of course important concerns, China is sidestepping efforts for it to mediate or resolve the crisis itself.””11 March 2022: Podcast for the SCMP China Geopolitics series
Comments on China's response to Russia-Ukraine War at the United Nations (Link)11 March 2022: SCMP
”Courtney Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University in Australia specialising in China and international security issues, described “the Chinese official language regarding political solutions for the Ukraine crisis is aspirational and vague, suggesting that China wants to be consulted as a responsible major country, but not responsible for resolving the crisis”.”3 March 2022: Bloomberg
”The overwhelming condemnation from 141 states in opposition to China’s strategic partner, Russia, is a clear signal to China that other states are watching how a leading state, like China, responds to blatant abuse of Ukrainian sovereignty,” said Courtney Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University and an associate fellow at Chatham House. “Rhetoric over ‘Cold War mentality’ is one thing, but condoning invasion is another.”2 March 2022: Financial Times
”Courtney Fung of Macquarie University said: “China’s relationship with Russia, growing overseas interests and concern for its international reputation make it a key actor for Ukraine to approach for mediation.” Fung noted that Beijing had helped mediate international disputes involving North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria. But it did not offer to play such a role when Russia annexed the Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 or when it invaded Georgia in 2008.”20 January 2022: Financial Times
“China’s peacekeeping experience informs their evolving approach to broader foreign security engagement,” said Courtney Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University … “China maintains a positive public record for its peacekeeping activities. However, China’s recent combat troop deployment experiences in Mali and South Sudan, where Chinese troops were attacked and killed, reinforce China’s view that contested consent and militarised, domestic quagmires are dangerous conditions for interventions.”11 February 2021: Foreign Policy
“It’ll take skillful U.S. diplomacy to simultaneously reach out for PRC support over global issues like COVID and climate, while pushing China on … human rights and democratic values in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong,” said Courtney Fung, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong.26 November 2020: South China Morning Post
“The Trump administration’s rejection of multilateralism has left a leadership and financial vacuum for other states, like China, to fill at the United Nations,” said Courtney Fung, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Hong Kong and an associate fellow at Chatham House.25 September 2020: Quartz
“[T]he PRC is using the WIPO bureaucratic procedures as an opportunity to enforce the One China principle within and beyond the WIPO environment,” said Courtney Fung, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Hong Kong and an associate fellow at London-based think tank Chatham House, referring to the People’s Republic of China, which was represented “China” at the UN and all its agencies since 1971. “This is part of a consistent PRC approach to restrict Taiwan’s international space by utilizing the rules and procedures of multilateral institutions.”14 August 2020: Foreign Policy
For years, Chinese nationals have been underrepresented at the U.N. In 2017, China had just over 1,100 staff working in the U.N. system, ranking the country 24th among all member states, and only about one-fifth of the number of American staffers. But in 2016, Xi vowed to strengthen “China’s pool of international bureaucrats to support China’s participation in global governance,” Courtney Fung and Shing-hon Lam, scholars at the University of Hong Kong, told Foreign Policy by email.7 May 2020: Wall Street Journal
“This is all very dangerous,” said Courtney Fung, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank. “There’s this frame now of, China has captured the system, it’s beholden to China, therefore we shouldn’t participate in it,” she said. “But by the U.S. not being there, it creates an empty space for somebody else to fill.”11 April 2020: Taipei Times
The UN council’s membership includes countries where human rights abuses are known to have occurred, and the US and other nations have left the council in protest. The US this week threatened to cancel funding to the WHO, citing Chinese influence, but, as University of Hong Kong researchers Courtney Fung (馮康雲) and Lam Shing-hon have said, China will simply fill the vacuum left by countries that leave.7 April 2020: PassBlue
Courtney Fung is an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and an associate fellow at Chatham House, a global think tank. In an email, she wrote: “China is already criticised for being slow and lacking transparency in addressing its domestic outbreak. China gains little from reinforcing such criticisms while leading [the Security Council].”5 March 2020: Quartz
“China pursues its foreign policy interests and values through the multilateral system, and does this in a number of ways,” said Courtney Fung, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Hong Kong and an associate fellow at London-based think tank Chatham House. “In terms of foreign policy interests, China is pushing various UN agencies to explicitly reference, voice support for, or partner with projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. In terms of values, China emphasises state sovereignty as a principle guiding international politics.”2 March 2019: Bloomberg Quint
Beijing has invested heavily to become an effective peacekeeping state, putting up seven percent of the UN peacekeeping budget—more than Canada and Spain, according to Courtney Fung, a University of Hong Kong political scientist who specialies in Chinese foreign policy. The Chinese are engaged not only at a policy level, debating and designing resolutions, but also, increasingly, in on-the-ground operations, sending ‘enabler’ units to provide the backbone and infrastructure for missions as well as ‘tip of the spear’ front-line forces in such locales as Haiti, Sudan, Liberia, and Afghanistan. Nothing is better for India's—or the world’s—security than an engaged China, assuming the responsibilities of global leadership.
