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China guards its UN
interests
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - China's decision to dispense
with its customary diplomatic ambiguity on the
matter of United Nations reform and come out
firmly against a proposal for quick expansion of
the Security Council is being presented by the
state propaganda machine as an unavoidable act of
opposition to Japan's bid for a permanent seat on
the council.
But diplomats and analysts
say Beijing's rejection of Japan's bid is also a
convenient posture that conceals its reluctance to
surrender a very privileged position of its own -
the only Asian and the only developing country
with a permanent seat and veto power on the
Security Council.
"They feel they are part
of a very exclusive club and that they deserve
it," said a Brazilian diplomat in Beijing. "It is
not a privilege they want to share with any
newcomers, and by opposing Japan they have found a
suitable way of protecting their own position."
China is one of the prestigious council's
five permanent members with veto power. The other
seats are held by the United States, Britain,
France and Russia. Last week, Beijing criticized
efforts by the Group of Four (G-4) - Brazil,
Germany, India and Japan - to expand the permanent
membership of the council as "immature" and a
threat to UN reform.
"For a few countries
to force through an immature proposal, it has
derailed Security Council reform and gravely
undermined any potential progress of UN reform,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao
said at a regular media briefing.
The G-4
nations have been lobbying to become members of
the council and have submitted a proposal to
expand the UN's top decision-making body by adding
six permanent members with veto power and four
non-permanent seats.
But the G-4 has faced
opposition from the United for Consensus movement,
a coalition of countries led by Italy that favor
expansion only in the non-permanent category. The
movement is calling for a consensus before any
decision is reached on the form and size of the
Security Council. The G-4, by contrast, argue that
significant changes can take place only through a
vote.
China has aligned itself with the
consensus movement, which also includes South
Korea, Pakistan, Argentina and Mexico. In a policy
paper released last week, Beijing argued that UN
reform should be achieved via broad consensus and
that such a divisive issue as the expansion of its
most powerful body should not be rushed through
with a vote.
The paper advocates expansion
of the council in favor of developing countries,
particularly small and medium-sized ones, on a
rotating basis. It strikes a defiant note by
concluding that China would "oppose any deadline
for an imposed vote over a UN reform plan on which
members still differ greatly".
Member
states have been arguing over reform of the
Security Council, the only UN body empowered to
make war and peace, for more than a decade.
Earlier this year, UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan released a 62-page report, "In Larger
Freedom", which backs a proposal made by a
high-level panel on UN reform that called for two
alternative models for a revamped Security
Council:
Model A provides for six new permanent
seats, none with veto powers; and three new
two-year term, non-permanent seats, divided among
Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the
Americas.
Model B provides for no new permanent
seats but creates a new category of eight
four-year, renewable-term seats and one new
two-year, non-permanent (and non-renewable) seat,
divided among the four regional groups.
In
opinion pieces and articles released last week,
Beijing presented its opposition to the council
reform as necessitated by Japan's contentious bid.
"In East Asia, China failed to win trust from
neighboring countries owing to its attitude
towards history. So if Japan wants to play a
bigger role in the UN, consensus should be reached
first in the region," the state-run China Daily
quoted Chen Xianyang, an expert with the China
Institute of Contemporary International Relations,
as saying.
"Why did China say 'no' at the
crucial moment?" read the headline of a full-page
article in the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekend
last Thursday. "There is no way China can allow a
Japan that is still glaringly disrespectful of
history to be admitted into the world's
decision-making body," the paper noted.
The article argued that blocking reform
now is a step aimed at preventing China from
having to use its veto power later, when the
amended UN charter is submitted for approval to
the Security Council.
"The whole world's
eyes are fixed on China now," the paper quoted Lin
Guojiong, a retired Chinese diplomat with many
years of working experience at the United Nations,
as saying. "We have to be firm and stick to our
consistent position regarding Japan's bid for the
Security Council. If we weaken on this one,
China's international authority that we have tried
to build carefully all these years would be
seriously damaged," he added.
With its
massive financial contributions to UN institutions
and years of concerted efforts at joining the
Security Council, Japan's bid has appeared the
strongest among the G-4 nations. But in April its
chances were undermined by weeks of protests in
China and South Korea. Demonstrators claimed that
Japanese atonement for the atrocities committed by
its troops during the country's invasion and
colonization of East Asia from 1910 to 1945 was
insufficient.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
voiced China's opposition most bluntly during a
visit to India in April, saying Japan must face up
to its past before becoming eligible to take on
more responsibilities on the world stage. By
contrast, he praised India, with which China is
forming increasingly strong economic ties. "We
fully understand and support the Indian
aspirations to play an even bigger role in
international affairs, including in the UN," Wen
said
. Chinese diplomats made similar
pledges of support for bids from Brazil and
Germany. But Beijing's decision to oppose the
council's expansion in the permanent seat category
has led media in the G-4 countries to question
whether it is sincerely supportive of those
countries' aspirations.
Analysts here
believe China's outright opposition to Japan's bid
would drive a wedge in the unity of the G-4
members and perhaps even lead to its break up.
"Japan is taking the blame for China's
rejection of the UN reform proposal," said Wu
Miaofa, a researcher with the China Institute for
International Relations. "Since China's position
became clear, they have been more active than ever
in Southeast Asia and Africa, providing more
financial assistance and trying to secure
necessary votes."
Only by attaining a
two-thirds majority in the 191-member UN Assembly,
which translates into 128 votes, can an amendment
to the UN charter be submitted to governments for
ratification. The entire UN reform package
unveiled by Annan last year will be put to the
test at a summit of world leaders in September of
this year.
"Japan is not likely to succeed in
wining those votes, neither in Southeast Asia nor
in Africa," Wu predicted. "Both regions value
China's friendship and will look China's way."
(Inter Press
Service) |
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