Criticized by the White House for alleged interference in US politics, China has quietly blazed a path at the UN where it is, little by little, becoming one of the most influential members.
At the UN Security Council, where China holds one of five permanent veto-wielding seats, its statements remain bland, often recalling fundamentals of the UN Charter, such as national sovereignty and principles of non-interference.
“In their interpretation, democracy is optional, as are human rights,” a European diplomat said.
Yet in peacekeeping missions or when jobs are available in the UN’s executive arm at the New York headquarters, Beijing is increasingly making its presence felt.
More than 2,500 Chinese military personnel wear UN blue helmets on peacekeeping missions in Libya, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.
China has also “enormously increased” its voluntary financial contributions to the world body, while the US under US President Donald Trump has slashed its own financing, one diplomat said.
Funding reports and missions allows China to buy some “influence” and push its candidates into top positions, the diplomat said, adding that to have Chinese in multiple roles across the UN provides “a source of information and influence.”
Another diplomat, also speaking anonymously, said: “China is taking power at the United Nations.”
Last year and this year, the Asian giant, which is economically expanding in Africa and elsewhere, became a key player on two major international crises: North Korea and Myanmar.
Under US pressure, Beijing imposed unprecedented economic sanctions against Pyongyang, but with the hope that an accord on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would lead to the departure of about 30,000 US troops based in South Korea — China’s behind-the-scenes strategy in the region.
China meanwhile considers the crisis of Myanmar’s Muslim minority Rohingya, 700,000 of whom fled a military crackdown to Bangladesh, as an issue between those two countries, and succeeded in preventing any firm UN Security Council action.
European diplomats have noted that China’s rise at the UN has come at a time when Beijing and Moscow are no longer automatically offering each other immediate reciprocal support.
When Moscow makes use of its veto power, China sometimes simply abstains.
Even in lower-profile situations, such as negotiating texts among the 15 UN Security Council members at the experts level, China is “present on all subjects,” one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Beijing, for example, is seeking to become chief author on texts about Afghanistan, replacing the Netherlands, which on Jan. 1 is to leave its non-permanent Security Council seat, several diplomats said.
The vast majority of UN resolutions are still written by the US, Britain or France — a reflection of an older world order.
China, like Russia, is rarely the author, although it was in charge of the Somalia file in the past.
So how far will China go? Some say this is only the tip of the iceberg.
“For China, multipolarity is just one stop on the underground metro line,” one diplomatic source said.
For Beijing, it then sees a group of two — China and the US, and eventually, China would reign supreme, a diplomat said.
“They are long-term players. They don’t want to create a commotion,” another diplomatic source said.
Speaking to a US think tank last week, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) dismissed fears that his country is seeking to overtake the US as the pre-eminent world power.
Concluding that China is about to seek hegemony, he said, is “a serious strategic misjudgement.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in