China's U.N. influence rising, West should be careful

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(Reuters) - China's engagement with the United Nations is on the rise as its economic power grows, but the West should be cautious with calls for it to act as a responsible world leader, as Beijing's goals may not be the same as the West's, said a new report on Friday.

Beijing is wielding greater influence at the United Nations, especially in the Security Council, but its pluralist foreign policy means its remains defensive, continues to protect pariah states Iran and North Korea, and defines its interests narrowly.

"China is sending higher-caliber diplomats to New York and providing increasingly robust support to U.N. peacekeeping operations," said author Michael Fullilove, Director Global Issues at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney.

"China is increasingly willing to take the lead on issues and behave more like a normal great power," said Fullilove, but adds: "On the Security Council, China's new confidence sits along strains of caution and defensiveness."

The report said the world climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009 reflected China's desire to balance its self-interests with its aspirations as a world player.

China, which accounts for 24 percent of global CO2 emissions, opposed a commitment for rich nations to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels and for Copenhagen to be a stage toward a legally binding treaty.

"The Chinese leadership remains overwhelmingly focused on domestic issues. One Chinese interviewee told the author: 'Beijing is not psychologically ready to be an active global player," wrote Fullilove.

But China's foreign policy is changing, even toward its historic support for pariah states.

"Concerned at the fragility of some of the regimes it supports and conscious of its international reputation, China has begun to condition its support in some cases," said Fullilove.

China is being pushed by Washington to bring North Korea to heel after last week's artillery attack on the South, but Beijing refuses to blame Pyongyang for the shelling which destroyed dozens of houses and killed four people, or for the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in March.

Beijing's frustration with Pyongyang has resulted in a reported public debate in Beijing, with traditionalist favoring support and strategists arguing growing economic ties with South Korea warrants support for Seoul, said the report.

"Beijing needs to strike a new balance between its traditional economic and security concerns and the broader imperatives it must now satisfy, including stable great-power relations, non-proliferation and the development of international prestige," said Fullilove.

"On the other hand, the West needs to be careful what it wishes for. Washington and Canberra want Beijing to be more responsible and active, but they don't like it when Beijing is more assertive. China's version of stepping up is not necessarily the same as the West's."

China's U.N. influence rising, West should be careful: institute | Reuters

It's ironic as the United States was the one which had given China its permanent seat in the first place...

 

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Gulf grows between Canada and the United Nations

Canada, a longtime supporter of the United Nations, is distancing itself from some of the UN's initiatives on human rights and climate change.

Anger at losing bid for UN Security Council seat

The Canadian government has grown more critical of the UN since the Conservatives came to power in 2005.

Though Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Ottawa last May and tried to smooth over problems between Canada and the UN,the gulf was deepened when Canada lost its bid for a UN Security Council seat to Germany and Portugal this fall.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said repeatedly that Canada paid a price for its strong support of Israel. Apparently, Canada's Conservative government was angered and humiliated when it lost the election the Canadian delegation was confident of winning.

Now, Canadian officials are pointing their fingers at Muslim states and the UN's own bureaucracy, saying Canada was a victim of its support for Israel and its demands for UN financial reform.

"We believe that the United Nations is in need of reform," Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of citizenship, said last week.

"It is in need of ongoing reform with respect to its financial management and its governance and our position on that has been clear in the various debates on UN reform," he added.

Canada's views on UN reform were "very clearly a part of our platform" in Canada's campaign for election to the Security Council," Kenney said.

However, he also said Canada remains a strong supporter of the World Food Program, UNICEF, the High Commissioner on Refugees and some other UN programs.

Boycotting UN conference on racism

Last week, Canada announced it would not attend the UN conference on racism to be held in New York next September at the same time as the General Assembly opens.

In 2008, Canada boycotted "Durban 2," the last UN anti-racism conference.

"We did so after those preparatory meetings were organized specifically on Jewish high holidays, after Iran had been elected as the co-chair of the preparatory committee, after Libya, a country with a deplorable human rights record, was elected to the organizing committee, after the non-governmental organizations who had been involved in the worst expressions of hatred at Durban 1 were automatically re-invited to participate at Durban 2," Kenney told reporters.

Kenney noted the governments of the United States, Australia, much of the European Union, Israel and several others also boycotted the Durban 2 conference.

"Our stand, our leadership was vindicated when the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the only head of state to attend the Durban 2 review conference, where he used his speech as a vehicle for holocaust denial, racism, xenophobia and the promotion of hatred," Kenney said.

"Just as Canada was the first country in the world to withdraw from Durban 2, so too I'm pleased today to announce that Canada will not attend the Durban 3 commemorative meeting in New York next year," Kenney said.

"Despite the fact that the Durban declaration and its follow-up have served to frankly fuel bigotry, the General Assembly has now chosen to repeat and even augment the mistakes of the past. We cannot agree to participate."

"As prime minister Harper has said, when Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe that we are morally obligated to take a stand and that form of conspicuous and consistent singling out for condemnation was one of the most objectionable features of the original Durban process," he added.

Canada has also quit the UN Council on Human Rights, after serving three years on the council, which was founded in 2006. Canada voted against 15 of the council's resolutions, and was often outvoted 50 to 1, Kenney noted.

Kenney said Canada will not pay for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to participate in activities sponsored by the UN Human Rights Council.

Questioning UN's role in climate change negotiations

Canada is also questioning whether to take part in UN discussions on climate change. A strong element of the governing Conservative party is skeptical of man-made global warming, but the Canadian government has been involved in "greenhouse gas" reduction negotiations.

Canadian negotiator Guy Saint-Jacques has said Canada is among the developed countries that are no longer convinced the United Nations is the proper place for climate change negotiations.

He noted each of the 190 countries engaged in the talks has a veto on any eventual treaty, making a deal very unlikely.

"I find it's a very frustrating process, because it means you're not working on a consensus basis, you're working on unanimity basis... Any country can block any point on the discussion," Saint-Jacques told reporters here.

"If this process were to fail, I think at that point there will be calls to try to see what else can be done to tackle this very urgent problem, which is global warming. Because of the urgency of the problem, at some point it would be normal to start to look at what else could be done," he said.

Gulf grows between Canada and the United Nations - GlobalTimes