Chief of UN intellectual property agency wins re-election as UN faces financial turmoil

As Washington withdraws from United Nations agencies and other member nations cut their funding, pushing the organisation into a severe financial crisis, the head of one well-funded agency won re-election on Thursday, despite criticism over some of his policies. The vote of 83 eligible member states saw incumbent Daren Tang Heng Shim, a Singaporean national, re-elected to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, or Wipo, by a vote of 81 to 2 against Haitian national Johanny Stanley Joseph. Tang was elected six years ago to his first term amid a fierce rivalry between Washington and Beijing, the UN’s biggest contributors, with a win of 55 to 28 for Chinese national Wang Binying, a Wipo deputy director general. Wang appeared to have her win all but secured during the 2019 campaigning after lengthy and well-planned lobbying by China only to see the first US President Donald Trump administration go into overdrive and push Tang over the top. “Well done for flying the Singapore flag high!” then-Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong effused at the time. This time around, however, the UN’s two largest contributors appeared satisfied, distracted or uninterested, seemingly happy to embrace the status quo. “I think the Chinese are probably happy with the current one,” said someone close to Wipo who asked not to be identified given fear of retribution, while Washington “has lost interest”. Wipo is a UN stand-out as an agency in little need of a begging bowl in these scratchy times given that over 90 per cent of its budget comes from independent revenue sources. Established in 1967 and based in Geneva, Wipo focuses on intellectual property, information technology, digital copyright and the protection of traditional knowledge, an area of traditional rivalry between Washington and Beijing. Its income, gained largely from fees it collects from the private sector for filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, Madrid System and Hague System, will reach an estimated 945 million Swiss francs (US$1.2 billion) in the 2026-2027 financial year. The US has traditionally sought to promote IP protection and safeguard free expression, while China has seen the agency as a way to push back on the spread of “Western liberal values” as part of its push to extend state control over information and redefining “human rights” to include material rights. In 2020, Beijing successfully denied Wipo observer status to the San Francisco-based Wikimedia Foundation, the parent of Wikipedia, over the alleged activities of the civic group’s Taiwanese subsidiary, which it accused of carrying out political activities and threatening political stability linked to website descriptions of the self-governing island. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary and has sought to reduce its international recognition. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed by law to supplying it with weapons. Critics have questioned Tang’s leadership over the past six years, although this is not unusual in the highly political UN system. A letter released ahead of Thursday’s election by self-described whistle-blowers and “concerned and former staff members” on X, formerly known as Twitter, called on the 83 member states “not to rely on an internal [vetting] process” in reviewing Tang’s candidacy and raised questions about his “personal integrity”. The allegations appear to be tied in part to a former Wipo employee who Tang reportedly elevated to de facto chief of staff named Omar Katbi. A leaked Brazilian diplomatic cable from late 2023 alleges that Katbi submitted forged documents and claimed to be Brazilian to secure employment at Wipo, including a Brazilian birth certificate, passport and military records, even though he was actually a Syrian national. He reportedly left the agency in 2023. Documents posted on X question whether Wipo under Tang adequately investigated the allegations, fully aired the results and has properly advanced intellectual property over broad development better left to other UN agencies like the United Nations Development Programme. “He’s not focusing on improving the patent system or the treaties,” said the person close to Wipo. “He’s been doing other activities for small communities, rural women in Spain or Indonesia or Malaysia, but not really for the stakeholders.” Wipo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Unlike Wipo, the broader UN system faces a massive funding crisis. US arrears for 2025 and for this year’s assessment total US$2.2 billion, and Washington announced last month it was withdrawing from 66 international organisations, with a complete funding cut for Unicef, the World Food Programme and others. China has sought to take advantage of Washington’s retreat, positioning itself as the “guardian of multilateralism”. But it has not been eager to fill the US shortfall, been highly selective in its voluntary contribution and often paid late in the year, adding to the UN’s liquidity crisis. It also held back around US$190 million in 2025, signalling its dissatisfaction with certain UN human rights investigations. “The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery and risking financial collapse,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in January, adding that the UN faces a “race to bankruptcy”.

Chief of UN intellectual property agency wins re-election as UN faces financial turmoil

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Daren Tang secured victory despite questions over his leadership and a whistle-blower letter, as US and China stayed largely on sidelines

Daren Tang secured victory despite questions over his leadership and a whistle-blower letter, as US and China stayed largely on sidelines