President Trump ignited a firestorm on Tuesday after announcing that the U.S. would temporarily cease funding the World Health Organization (WHO) after accusing the agency of dangerous "political correctness" in embracing China's cover-up, thus paving the way for the coronavirus pandemic.
But WHO is only one patch of an increasingly fragile fabric that is the United Nations.
"China is in a position to veto and stub out any effort by the U.S. to pass a resolution against it in the Security Council," Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israel-based attorney who specializes in suing terrorist regimes and state sponsors who orchestrate human rights abuses on behalf of victims, told Fox News.
"As an economic powerhouse with the ability to punish smaller countries that rely on its trade and markets, most of the 190 countries that are part of the General Assembly would be loath to join in a U.S.-sponsored resolution that would condemn China for its role in the pandemic.
"Moreover, General Assembly resolutions, which might be embarrassing and humiliating to Beijing, are largely symbolic and do not have any actual bite and, as such, most of the world would be too fearful of Chinese retribution to join along in this gesture."
In this Sept. 11, 2017, file photo, The United Nations Security Council votes to pass a new sanctions resolution against North Korea during a meeting at U.N. headquarters.