US tasks State Department official Mark Lambert to counter China’s ‘malign influence’ at UN
- Lambert was previously US special envoy for North Korea
- He will focus on ‘integrity of multilateral institutions’, US State Department confirms
A top US State Department official has been tasked with countering “malign influences” of China and others at the United Nations, the agency confirmed on Thursday.
“Mr [Mark] Lambert, a career Foreign Service officer, has been assigned to the Bureau of International Organisation Affairs as a member of a diverse team of diplomatic professionals working to ensure the integrity of multilateral institutions,” a State Department spokeswoman said.
“This includes countering the malign influences of the PRC and others in the UN system,” the spokeswoman said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
Foreign Policy magazine reported on Wednesday that Lambert, most recently the US special envoy for North Korea, would be moving into this role.
The post appears amid scepticism about multilateral institutions within US President Donald Trump’s administration.