{"id":31568,"date":"2017-04-28T11:00:10","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T01:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=31568"},"modified":"2017-04-28T11:34:51","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T01:34:51","slug":"china-un-rules-based-global-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/china-un-rules-based-global-order\/","title":{"rendered":"China, the UN and the rules-based global order"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-31569 size-full\" title=\"Image courtesy of Pixabay user jensjunge.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/un-516083_640.jpg\" alt=\"Image courtesy of Pixabay user jensjunge.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/un-516083_640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/un-516083_640-205x154.jpg 205w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Later today US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?c4667016\/secretary-tillerson-chair-un-security-council-meeting-north-korea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preside over a ministerial-level meeting<\/a> of the UN Security Council on North Korea. Most observers will closely focus on Tillerson\u2019s remarks, yet there\u2019s no doubt that China\u2014Pyongyang\u2019s ally\u2014has a pivotal role in diffusing tensions.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the US <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-northkorea-usa-idUSKBN17Q06N\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sabre-rattling<\/a> with its allies in the region and calls for renewed dialogue, China has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/world\/north-korea-in-phone-call-xi-warns-trump-not-to-go-beyond-un-resolutions-20170424-gvr95k.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seeking<\/a> to ensure a solution to the escalating tension remains within the purview of the UN. This is by no means surprising on China\u2019s part\u2014it\u2019d prefer a resolution of the situation that halts North Korea\u2019s nuclear program but maintains the regime in Pyongyang.<\/p>\n<p>Beijing also wants a solution that results in the US reducing its military engagement in the region. Enhanced sanctions are more likely to deliver these outcomes than military action. Although the US leads on North Korea in the Council, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whatsinblue.org\/2016\/11\/adoption-of-new-dprk-sanctions-resolution-and-briefing-on-the-1718-dprk-sanctions-committee.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it works bilaterally with China<\/a> before sharing any draft resolution with the wider Council membership. So China\u2019s strategic interests are best served by ensuring that the Security Council continues to manage the crisis on the peninsula. And it has an interest in undertaking a constructive role in any negotiations taking place.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018China\u2019 and \u2018constructive\u2019 are two words not usually seen together in a UN context. Beijing\u2019s actions in the South China Sea, along with its <a href=\"http:\/\/research.un.org\/en\/docs\/sc\/quick\/veto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">voting pattern<\/a> of siding with Russia to veto international efforts aimed at resolving the conflict in Syria, lend weight to China\u2019s obstructionist profile when it comes to the UN or upholding the rules-based global order.<\/p>\n<p>China refrains from taking on any \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/www.securitycouncilreport.org\/un-security-council-working-methods\/atf\/cf\/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D\/Penholders%20and%20Subsidiary%20Body%20Chairs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pen-holder<\/a>\u2019 responsibilities on the Council, relying on the P3 (the US, UK and France) to do the heavy lifting when it comes to drafting resolutions, mandates and Council responses. It has also frequently sided with Russia on issues that are likely to interfere with state sovereignty. Both countries <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/press\/en\/2014\/sc11720.doc.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unsuccessfully<\/a> tried to obstruct efforts to put the human rights situation in North Korea on the Council\u2019s agenda. When it was an elected member in 2014, Australia creatively drew on the Council\u2019s own rules to use a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/press\/en\/2014\/sc11720.doc.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">procedural motion<\/a>\u2014which can\u2019t be vetoed\u2014 to add the item to the Council\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Still it\u2019s worth noting that China\u2019s position hasn\u2019t always aligned with Russia\u2019s on the Council. It took a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/ga\/search\/view_doc.asp?symbol=S\/PV.7919\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">noticeably different<\/a> stance when it came to recent US missile strikes in Syria. Unexpectedly it didn\u2019t rail against the interference in national sovereignty. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/press\/en\/2017\/sc12791.doc.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nor did it join<\/a> Russia in vetoing recent attempts to adopt a resolution condemning the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria. While it\u2019s difficult to identify the rationale, it\u2019s fair to surmise that China\u2019s engagement with the UN continues to evolve. One obvious aspect of this shift is in the area of UN peacekeeping, where it has growing interests.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s currently the largest troop and police contributor among the P5, with over 2,500 personnel deployed on 10 peacekeeping missions. While that number has dropped from a historic high of over 3,000 during 2015, China still ranks 12th on the list of countries contributing military and police personnel. President Xi also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/peacekeeping\/operations\/leadersummit.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pledged<\/a> 8,000 standby troops to the UN at a summit hosted by then President Obama in September 2015. China surpassed Japan in 2016 to become the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/peacekeeping\/operations\/financing.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second largest assessed financial contributor<\/a> to the UN peacekeeping budget, currently paying 10.29% of the US$7.87 billion funding.<\/p>\n<p>Like most countries, China\u2019s engagement in UN peacekeeping isn\u2019t purely altruistic. Most of its personnel are deployed on the African continent, where there\u2019s significant overlap with China\u2019s strategic interests. It has <a href=\"http:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2014\/06\/16\/u-n-peacekeepers-to-protect-chinas-oil-interests-in-south-sudan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">investments in the oil fields<\/a> in South Sudan, where it has its largest deployment of personnel to any UN mission.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s in a unique position of influence: it has a permanent voice at the table that mandates and authorises operations, it has authority in budgetary negotiations about peacekeeping in the UN General Assembly\u2019s Fifth Committee, and it has legitimacy within the community of major troop and police contributors, which often claims to go unheard in the council. China has been <a href=\"http:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2016\/10\/02\/china-eyes-ending-western-grip-on-top-u-n-jobs-with-greater-control-over-blue-helmets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rumoured<\/a> to be interested in the key post of head of UN peacekeeping, a position that the French have held for over 20 years, leveraging influence over the direction of UN peacekeeping policy.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will find it increasingly difficult to ignore China\u2019s desire to have more influence in the UN system. Beijing has the political, financial and operational credentials to add weight to its position within the organisation\u2019s peace and security architecture. And that may increase if the US, UK and France succumb to political pressure to focus on their own domestic concerns.<\/p>\n<p>The Security Council discussions later today will show that North Korea is an issue where the UN can serve China\u2019s interests, as well as those of the international community. As the world\u2019s second largest economic and military spending power, China doesn\u2019t need to rely on the UN to pursue its national interests. The North Korean issue serves as a reminder that it has many diverse reasons to constructively engage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Later today US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will preside over a ministerial-level meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea. Most observers will closely focus on Tillerson\u2019s remarks, yet there\u2019s no doubt that &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":229,"featured_media":31569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,86,1897,92],"class_list":["post-31568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-north-korea","tag-rex-tillerson","tag-united-nations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>China, the UN and the rules-based global order | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/china-un-rules-based-global-order\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China, the UN and the rules-based global order | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Later today US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will preside over a ministerial-level meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea. 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