The United States and China fight a pulse on the future of the UN mission in Haiti that expires on Friday, within the Security Council of the international organization.
Haiti depends on the United States in the Council. A former US ambassador, Helen La Lime, is the island’s emissary to the UN.
But the adoption of a resolution on the extension of his political mission in the country in crisis planned this Thursday did not happen as planned, due to complications in the negotiations with China.
"If tomorrow the Chinese could close the United Nations office (on the island), they would"commented a diplomat who requested anonymity. Beijing is the second largest financial contributor to the UN and behaves as the United States did under former President Donald Trump, he added.
According to several sources consulted by AFP, one reason that China did not cite during the discussions at the UN is Taiwan’s recognition of Haiti, which angered Beijing.
In June, China rejected a draft Security Council declaration on Haiti proposed by the United States that regretted "the deterioration of the political, food and humanitarian situation" in the country.
In recent negotiations and without declaring "against" of the UN mission, the Chinese were very critical. "The UN did nothing, everything we invested was at a loss" in that country, they said, according to a diplomatic source.
The Chinese mission to the UN did not want to comment on the situation.
Beijing recently called for a renewal of the UN mandate for only six months, according to diplomats, to pressure Haiti, plunged into crisis after the assassination in July of President Jovenel Moise.
The island foresees elections, in the best of cases, for the second half of 2022.
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