(Forth coming)

From Absence to Influence: The WHO and China in Global Health presents a historical analysis of the evolving relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) and the World Health Organization (WHO), from its disconnection and absence to the reconciliation, resistance, and selective engagement in the latter half of the twentieth century. The book contextualises the changes in the relationship between Beijing and Geneva against the backdrop of the Cold War from the 1950s to the 1970s and the ascent of neoliberalism from the 1980s to the 1990s. It provides a nuanced understanding of the geopolitics and political economy that shaped the relationship between Beijing and Geneva through case studies including the Smallpox Eradication Programme (SEP) and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) and their implementation in China. It provides crucial historical insights that inform understanding of China’s significant, albeit controversial, role in global health.