Who represents China at the UN? China at the UN: the path to global governance

Especially for the illiterate and poorly educated - in the column “Date of joining the UN” for the Russian Federation it is indicated: “October 24, 1945 (USSR)”, i.e. in 1945, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became a member of this international organization. It is worth noting that the fundamentals of the UN’s activities and its structure were developed during the Second World War by the leading participants in the anti-Hitler coalition, i.e. USSR included.

After the collapse of the USSR at the end of 1991 Russian Federation was recognized by the international community as a successor state of the USSR in matters of nuclear potential, external debt, state property abroad, as well as membership in the UN Security Council, i.e. The Russian Federation is the full legal successor of the USSR - from an international legal point of view, this is one and the same state, therefore our country’s membership in the UN since 1945 is indisputable.

To increase your IQ level:

Succession of states is the transfer of the rights and obligations of one state to another state or the replacement of one state by another state in bearing responsibility for the international relations of a territory.

Succession occurs in cases of transfer of the territory of one state to another state, as well as in cases of the formation of new states. In this regard, they distinguish:

• Division - a state split into two (or more) states. The old state disappears, new ones arise in its place
• Separation - a part was separated from the state, but the state itself remained
• Unification - two or more states become one
• Annexation - one state joins another

I will fill your educational gap on another issue. You state that the Russian Federation in 1945 “did not even exist...” - if you, due to mental limitations, were unable to learn the history of your country, this does not mean that the Russian Federation did not exist. There you are historical fact: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (official abbreviation RSFSR) - a union republic within the USSR from 1922 to 1991. Proclaimed on October 25 (November 7), 1917 as a result October revolution like the Russian Soviet Republic. Since July 19, 1918, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was officially named. The name Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was introduced by the 1936 USSR Constitution and the 1937 RSFSR Constitution. Along with the above official names During the Soviet period, such unofficial names as Russian Federation and Russia were also widely used.

P.S. As a piece of advice, try to switch from lumpen jargon to normal Russian...

China is sending a growing number of UN peacekeepers wearing blue helmets and berets abroad.
Photo by Reuters

October 25, 2011 marked the 40th anniversary of the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. Over these four decades, both China and the world have changed radically. Much has changed in the activities of the PRC at the UN. From an inexperienced newcomer, Beijing has gradually turned into one of the most consistent defenders of the leading role of the UN in ensuring international peace, into a staunch supporter of the goals of global and social development proclaimed by the organization.

"The flow of history is unstoppable"

October 25, 1971 26th session General Assembly The UN, with 76 votes in favor, 35 against and 17 abstentions, approved the draft resolution submitted by 23 countries and adopted the decision No. 2758 to restore the legal rights of the PRC in the UN. “The flow of history is unstoppable” - this is how this event was assessed in Beijing.

Why did the autumn of 1971 become the starting point - after all, similar resolutions, regularly introduced before, constantly did not receive the required number of votes? Today there is no doubt that the turning point was Henry Kissinger's famous secret visit to Beijing in July 1971. As the politician himself later explained in his memoirs, many countries that were previously hesitant to vote for China due to fears of one or another punishment from the United States changed their position due to Washington’s policy of reconciliation with China.

For the sake of maintaining formal decency, the removal of Taiwan from the UN, which was there under the flag of the Republic of China, was framed by ritual rearguard battles, waged by the then US representative to the UN, George H. W. Bush. But they no longer decided anything. On November 15, the PRC delegation led by Qiao Guanhua took part in the work of the General Assembly for the first time. And George Bush, apparently experienced in Chinese affairs, somewhat later headed the first official US liaison mission to the PRC...

From “silent worker” to active participant

In the 1970s and 1980s, China was not very active in the UN. He clearly lacked experience. Thus, in 1972, Beijing went against the “tide of history” by trying to block the admission of Bangladesh, which had fallen away from “greater Pakistan,” into the organization.

However, from time to time China has used the podium of the East River building to loudly demonstrate its Third World affiliation.

The future architect of the policy of reform and openness, Deng Xiaoping, announced China's continued presence in this group of states at a special session of the UN General Assembly in 1974. The same was evidenced by China's repeated use of the veto during elections. Secretary General UN. And if in 1971 and 1976 Beijing, which advocated the election of a representative of developing countries to this post, quickly compromised, then in 1981 it blocked the election of Kurt Waldheim for a third term 16 times, opening the way for Perez de Cuellar to the post of Secretary General. However, in general, a radical readjustment of the internal and foreign policy countries in these two decades objectively limited the interaction of the PRC with the UN.

The situation began to change quickly after Deng Xiaoping's famous trip to the south of the country in early 1992, which marked the PRC's return to a broad policy of reform and opening up. The need to intensify activities on international arena was also dictated by the task of upholding the development guidelines and interests of China after the collapse of the USSR.

Since 1992, the process of China's connection to the main legal regimes and UN conventions, including on the protection of intellectual property, biodiversity, human rights, the law of the sea and nuclear safety, has accelerated. China became one of the first states to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. In 2003, China signed and in 2005 ratified the UN Convention against Corruption. In 1997, the PRC signed the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Human Rights, and in 1998, the Convention on Civil and Political Rights.

From a “silent worker”, China has transformed into one of the most consistent defenders of the goals of global social and economic development, an active participant in most negotiating mechanisms on disarmament and non-proliferation issues nuclear weapons. The PRC began to use the UN rostrum more often to announce certain of its own principles. Thus, Chinese President Hu Jintao, speaking on September 15, 2005 at a meeting of the heads of state of UN member states on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the organization, put forward the idea of ​​jointly building a harmonious world based on its cultural and civilizational diversity.

Participation in UN peacekeeping operations

An important area of ​​China's activities in the UN is participation in its peacekeeping operations. It was not easy for Beijing to take such a step - after all, it to some extent contradicted its proclaimed principle of non-deployment of military contingents outside the country's borders. However, awareness of the importance of peacekeeping operations for the UN to fulfill its indispensable role in ensuring global security prevailed. In 1988, China joined the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, and in April 1989, for the first time, it provided the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) with a group of civilians to observe elections in Namibia. In total, from 1990 to 2009, China took part in 18 UN peacekeeping missions, sending over 11 thousand peacekeepers abroad, of which 1,100 were military observers. As of June 30, 2009, there were 2,148 peacekeepers from the PRC in UN peacekeeping missions. China has contributed more peacekeepers than other permanent members of the UN Security Council. In June 2009, a peacekeeping center of the Ministry of Defense of the People's Republic of China was created in Beijing, designed to train personnel and exchange experience in this area.

According to Chinese experts, China's active participation in peacekeeping operations reflects the country's efforts to fulfill its obligations in ensuring international peace and security. At the same time, it helps Beijing better integrate into the international security regime and thereby contribute to its own security.

China and the right of veto in the Security Council

China emphasizes that the country, which has the right of veto as a permanent member of the Security Council, approaches its use “balancedly and carefully.”

In the late 1990s, Beijing twice used its veto power to repel attacks on the “one China” principle. We are talking about China's veto when voting in the UN Security Council on a draft resolution on sending a group of military observers to Guatemala (October 1, 1997) and when voting on the issue of extending the stay of the UN military mission in Macedonia for preventive purposes (February 25, 1999). In both of these cases, China was guided by the “fundamental principle of protecting sovereignty,” as Guatemala, ignoring the warnings of the PRC, invited a representative of the Taiwanese administration to the signing ceremony of the peace agreements, and Macedonia established diplomatic relations with Taiwan on February 8, 1999.

Another reason for China's use of the veto was the desire to prevent unjustified interference in the internal affairs of other countries. In January 2007, China, together with Russia and South Africa, voted against the draft resolution of Great Britain and the United States “On the situation in Myanmar,” which was motivated by the absence of a threat from Myanmar to peace and security in the region. On July 11, 2008, the PRC, together with Russia, for the same reasons, voted against the resolution proposed by the United States and England condemning the domestic policies of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Standing somewhat apart is the recent veto imposed by China together with Russia in the UN Security Council when voting on a draft resolution of a number of European countries about the situation in Syria. Its reason was the refusal of the authors of the draft resolution to record a commitment to refrain from military intervention in the situation in Syria.

Beijing and the problems of UN reform

The peculiarities of China's positioning in the UN are reflected in the evolution of its approach to the reform of this organization. There are three stages here.

In the 1990s, Beijing very actively supported the reform of the organization, since it was consonant with the Chinese thesis about the need to create a new international political and economic order. China advocated for greater emphasis in UN activities on economic and social problems, for increasing the representation of developing countries.

At the end of 1998 - beginning of 1999, the desire of the United States and its NATO allies to put pressure on Yugoslavia on the Kosovo issue, bypassing the UN, became increasingly apparent. On March 24, 1999, NATO air forces, without direct authorization from the UN Security Council, began bombing strategic targets in Serbia. In this situation, the priority for China, as well as for Russia, was not the task of this or that UN reform, but the protection of its legitimacy and central role in ensuring peace and security. In the Joint Statement of the Heads of State of November 23, 1998, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China stated that the main statutory responsibility of the Security Council for maintaining international peace and security “should under no circumstances be called into question” and that “any attempts to bypass the council are fraught with undermining the existing mechanism for maintaining peace." A year later, in the Joint Statement on current problems of the current international situation on December 9, 1999, China and Russia spoke “in favor of maintaining unchanged the statutory powers of the current permanent members of the Security Council,” characterizing this provision as “a necessary condition for ensuring the effectiveness and stability of the UN.” This marked the beginning of the second stage in the evolution of the PRC's approach to UN reform, which lasted until approximately 2003–2004. The PRC began to advocate not for UN reform in general, but for “rational and limited reform” that “would stand the test of time and would be acceptable to the overwhelming majority of the organization’s members.” Accordingly, Beijing opposed the introduction of any specific deadlines for completing the transformation.

The third stage, which continues to the present day, is characterized by the fact that Beijing, while supporting the very idea of ​​reform, refrains from active actions and does not force events, appealing to the need to achieve the broadest possible consensus on the issue of new permanent members of the Security Council.

Having become a member of the overwhelming majority of influential international organizations and negotiating mechanisms over the past 20 years, the PRC continues to consider its work in the UN as the most important in this area. This is partly due to the fact that, according to Chinese experts, “in no other international organization does China occupy a higher place than in the UN, and no other international organization has had no greater impact on China than the UN.” The fact that the fundamental principles of the UN turned out to be consonant with the foreign policy of the PRC also had an impact.

demonofthemist

The United Nations was created at the end of World War II to maintain world peace. In the UN structure, the Security Council occupies first place.

Only five permanent members were selected. These countries include the US, UK, USSR (now Russia), France and China.

I don't know what criteria were used for this selection, but the first four seem obvious to me. The USA and USSR were the two superpowers that emerged after the war. Britain and France were the victors and former superpowers, and still controlled many of the colonies at the time. But China doesn't fit into the picture anywhere. It was not a superpower at the time, nor did it have the strong economy or military it has today.

Is it because China fought on the winning side, or is it because of its large population, or is it chosen to represent Asia.

Answers

Tom Au

China (at the time) was one of the "Big Four" allies (France was not) during World War II. (Originally, the “United Nations” meant the united, anti-axial nation.) It is true that the "Big Three" were the United States, Great Britain and Soviet Union, but there were a number of much weaker, plausible "number four" states, including China, France and Poland (the latter two were occupied by the Germans, with large free French and free Polish contingents). Of these, China was the strongest and most important. France was "Number Five" added at the end of the war. This hierarchy was put forward by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who planned to make China a post-war counterweight against British and French colonialism and prophetically foresaw China's rise to world power (albeit in a different form than he assumed).

Although China was not very successful in World War II, it played an important role in tying up Japanese forces by acting as an "anvil" Pacific Ocean to the "hammer" of the Americans. As in Europe, the Americans fought only one-fourth of the Japanese army (but most of its navy), with China absorbing much of Japan's remaining power. China's potential in this regard was only demonstrated six years after World War II, when China led "anti-UN" (mostly anti-American) efforts in Korea.

To win World War II, the Axis had to defeat everyone three America's main allies; Great Britain, the Soviet Union and China. Let's assume a second worst case scenario: the Germans conquered the British Isles (e.g. by submarine warfare) in 1944 and European Russia by the end of 1945. Then America will become the leader of the "Free British" forces in India "Free". Russia "strength in Siberia" and "free China". By mid-1945, the Allies had effectively captured the Philippines, as well as parts of Indochina and modern-day Indonesia, and the Pacific islands of Japan. Eisenhower's Normandy invasion could then have instead liberated Japanese-occupied China in 1945, in cooperation with local Chinese forces. "United Nations" North and South America, China, India, Siberia, Australia and today's ASEAN countries (even if Britain, Russia, Africa and the Middle East were lost to the Germans) would probably be enough to lead and win" Cold War"with axle. Take China out of the equation and the “allies” lose. (This is the thesis of my unpublished book on World War II, The Axis Overextends.)

Schwern

Two Points Until 1947, India was not an independent country and therefore was not considered for the UN Security Council. Second, while I agree that China acted as a sponge for Japanese resources, why did the US invade China if invading Japan would end the war faster? The US preferred to deal with the Axis directly, the attack round being more of a British thing.

Rohit

Despite your poverty? India was neither an economic power nor a military power. For the most part, Indian regiments fought in Europe and Asia, in Indochina. Even there the chain of command was predominantly British. Additionally, the section trimmed it down further. Therefore, I do not consider it valid that India was on the path to becoming a major power. It can be said that it may have a regional impact due to its demographic resource

Schwern

@TomAu I wouldn't just lump them together. France and Poland were nations before the war with governments in exile ready to take seats on the Security Council. Before the war, India was not a nation, there was no government in exile, there was no constitution, there was not even a single nation. Who will take the seat, the Muslim League or the Indian National Congress? While it can be argued that India was a plausible member, it was not simply an occupied nation.

Schwern

@TomAu (I'm not sure how the Saudi Arabia And Arabic.) I don't argue with the idea that India may have earned a spot. The point is to consider India as an occupied country, in the sense of France and Poland, in 1945, when the Security Council was formed. Who will decide who took the place? Will the British take a decision before the Indian government is formed? On this moment we need some historical quotation that has been considered by India (in any form).

Tom Au

@Schwern: As I recall, the original plan was for American-trained Chinese troops to liberate China by 1945 and then join in the attack on Japan in 1946 to save American Lives. Chinese defeats in 1944 pushed back this timetable, while the unexpected success of the American "island hopping" allowed the invasion of Japan from the "eastern" (Pacific) side by the (mainly) Americans in late 1945 instead of 1946. the bomb rendered both plans unnecessary.

Tyler Durden

Originally Chinese People's Republic was not part of the Security Council, since it did not exist in 1945, when the Security Council was created. The People's Republic of China inherited the ROC's seat on the Council when it took over the ROC's seat at the United Nations in 1971.

Initially, the United States supported the place of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Security Council. The reasons for this are obviously subject to interpretation and were highly political in nature. Perhaps one factor was that the council included Britain and France (both former colonial powers), and the US viewed the ROC as an ally and counterweight to the European presence on the council. Additionally, the US may have seen the need for an Asian representative on the council.

This latter motivation, in which all continents are represented, is also supported by the fact that the United States also supported the idea of ​​including Brazil in the Security Council, although this was strongly opposed by Britain and France.