Dr. William Paton, a Canadian, is a former UN official at the Assistant-Secretary General level. He served as leader of the UN System in Congo and Tajikistan; as Director of the UN's Pandemic Influenza Contingency based in Geneva; Director of Country Programs globally at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in Geneva; and Deputy Director General/Special Envoy of the International Development Law Organization based in Rome. He has also worked for the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing. He writes about China foreign affairs and other international issues.