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Feb 07, 2021

UNSC Watch: Amidst Anxiety Over 'China Style' of Diplomacy, Beijing Cuts Conciliatory Picture

In fact, Beijing has been eager to project a constructive image as a champion of multilateralism.
Representative image of a Chinese flag in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. Photo: Reuters/Jason Lee

New Delhi: Myanmar’s regression from a nascent democracy into a military junta-ruled country was at the core of the United Nations Security Council’s deliberations last week. The talks saw China joining a consensus of concern over the military takeover in the south-east Asian nation.

A day after Myanmar military swooped down and arrested the entire swathe of ruling party leaders in the government, the United Kingdom, as Council President in February, convened an emergency closed-door meeting of the Council. With the UNSC member states showing various degrees of concern over the developments, it took two days to issue a press statement on behalf of the Security Council.

China’s remarks and actions were watched with a keen interest in the last few days, especially since it has an oversized role as the most critical external influencer in Myanmar.

Interestingly, even before the negotiations for the press statement began, a few western publications had published articles on China blocking the release of any unified document by the Council.

India, meanwhile, has faced the brunt of China’s blocking tactics in UNSC over the years. Still, even Indian official sources noted that Chinese diplomats did not actually prevent the release of the press statement. As one official told The Wire, “Negotiation is not blocking.”

India had acted as a “balancing factor,” with all its suggestions in drafting the final statement accepted, he added.

Also read: Myanmar: India ‘Balancing Factor’ Between West, China in Talks Over UNSC Press Statement

While Chinese diplomats are perceived to have embraced thewolf warrior’ persona, in the United Nations, that brand of diplomacy has not arrived, yet.

That is not to say that alarm bells have not rung in the Western capitals over China’s expanding influence in the UN system. In recent years, China has become the second-largest source of assessed contributions to the UN budget after the United States. Chinese nationals head four out of 15 specialised agencies of the multilateral body. There has been rising Chinese interest in vetting appointments to lead UN political and peacekeeping missions, which had primarily been a sphere of interest of other P5 members, wrote a former under-secretary-general for political affairs at the United Nations, Jeffrey Feltman in September 2020.

However, China has not been the only factor in slowing deliberations at the UN.

In fact, Beijing has been more than keen to project a constructive image as a ‘champion’ of multilateralism. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2017 speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos had underscored that Beijing was stepping up to fill the vacuum from the US withdrawing from multilateral platforms.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 28, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

China has used the veto 16 times, out of which 13 were jointly wielded with Russia. It included one to block a US-backed resolution on Myanmar in 2007 calling for the release of political prisoners and expeditious transition to democracy. According to a New York Times report about the double veto, China and Russia had argued that they shared concerns about Myanmar, but consider them internal matters that did not constitute threats to international peace and security.

Fourteen years later, there is no such resistance in framing the Myanmar developments as a concern for the international community. 

Incidentally, the latest UNSC press statement made a point of giving a central role to ASEAN in the current crisis in Myanmar. The regional body’s position after the February 1 coup d’état was to note that “political stability in ASEAN Member States is essential to achieving a peaceful, stable and prosperous ASEAN Community”.

Of course, the press statement was a result of some ‘give and take’ between the two different views in the Council. It was certainly reflected in the statement not condemning, but expressing “deep concern” at the events and called for the immediate release of all detained leaders.

Sources had said that the western countries had been “surprisingly” accommodative during the negotiations for the press statement. With Myanmar as the subject of the first Council meeting in the February presidency of the UK, the British permanent representative to UN Barbara Woodward was certainly interested in scoring an early success. A fluent Chinese speaker, Woodward was also UK’s envoy to China for five years, before being sent to New York.

UNSG elections

Another notable event in New York was the joint letter from the Presidents of Security Council and General Assembly to all member states on February 5, which set in motion the process for selecting his successor. António Guterres, whose term ends on December 31, 2021, has already stated that he is ready to serve a second term.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is seen on a video screen during a virtual climate summit, known as the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, in Berlin on April 28, 2020. Photo:Michael Kappeler/Pool via Reuters

According to the UN Charter, the General Assembly appoints the Secretary General, upon recommendation from the Security Council. During the last selection process, there had first time public dialogues of the UN member states with the candidates.

Ultimately, the selection of the secretary general depends on the views of United States – and now China.

Currently, there is no names going around in the grapevine to challenge Guterres, but there is still enough time before the General Assembly holds the informal dialogue before May and June.

Last time, the East European countries were supposed to have got a chance at the UN’s top post. But, there were multiple candidates from the region, which divided the vote. There also had been a failed campaign to get a woman to finally have a jab at the “most difficult job in the world”.

This week in UNSC 

The Council has to decide on the renewal of the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Sudan sanctions committee before it expires on February 12. A meeting of the UNSC on the topic is scheduled for next Wednesday.

A day earlier, there is a meeting on Middle East, with Syria’s political process on the agenda. It will be followed by a meeting on “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”. 

This is a weekly column that tracks the UNSC during India’s current term as a non-permanent member. Previous columns can be found here.

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