The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris Photo: VCG

In a move aimed at pushing back against China, the US told the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that it is interested in rejoining the agency, nearly six years after it had ended its membership. Chinese experts urged the organization to stay alert to the US move, as Washington aims to exploit UNESCO as a tool to contain China, instead of making real contributions.

A US State Department spokesperson confirmed to US media outlet Axios on Sunday that the US had privately notified the UN agency of its interest in rejoining. The report said that Richard Verma, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, sent a letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay last week proposing a plan for the US to rejoin the agency.

US lawmakers approved a bill last year that allocated more than $500 million needed to pay the US debt to UNESCO in an effort to allow its return as a full member, according to Axios. 

It's been nearly six years since the Trump administration announced it would leave UNESCO due to what it called anti-Israel bias. 

US selfishness is on full display from its government flip-flop on membership of international organizations, and Washington showed no respect to UNESCO by treating its membership like a child's game, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday.

Li urged UNESCO to stay alert to the US rejoining, and said that the motive of the US is neither healthy nor sincere. "Washington simply wants to exploit the organization, and override it to serve as a US tool to contain China," said Li. 

The expert also warned that the US' current promise is shaky, because if a Republican candidate, or Trump himself, takes office next year, the US may walk out on the body again. 

Responding to the US official's previous comments on returning to UNESCO, Mao Ning, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in March that international organizations are platforms for global cooperation, not arenas for geopolitical games. We welcome it if the US truly sees China's positive role in UNESCO objectively, but if the US' return to the organization is meant to counter or check China's influence, it will only lead to questions over whether the US remains unchanged at heart and still puts "America First" before international public well-being.