The InterDependent

China did not know what it was getting into when it headed toward March. While the battles in Libya between rebel fighters and the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi intensified, and the Security Council began discussing the imposition of a no-fly zone, China took on the rotating council presidency last month. As a permanent member with veto-wielding power, China was known for opposing – or acting slowly – on military interventions everywhere.

“Ready?” Li Baodang, the Chinese permanent representative, asked assembled reporters as he read a council statement on March 15. By then, the tide had moved against the Libyan opposition fighters in their struggle against Qaddafi and requests for establishing a no-fly zone had reached fever pitch, with the Arab League giving its go-ahead.

In his five-minute stakeout to the media, Li reiterated the importance of ending violence in Libya but veered from answering questions about China’s position on the use of force. Instead, he said, “We believe there should be a full implementation” of Resolution 1970, which set up arms embargos and sanctions against Qaddafi and his coterie. As for military force, Li said, “We’ll see how consultation goes tomorrow.”

Two days later, numerous diplomats took turns speaking to the media, including Alain Juppé, foreign affairs minister of France, and Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, to announce the details of passing Resolution 1973 – the second in less than three weeks – which authorized a no-fly zone.

In a surprising move, China abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to pass without vetoes. (Brazil, Russia, Germany and India also abstained.)

“We expressed several times in the Security Council – asking who will operate, take responsibility?” Sun Xiaobo, a political coordinator for the Chinese mission to the UN, said in April about the abstention. “We had a lot of questions, even after the resolution was adopted. We still have no answers.”

But China, appeased by the “very strong appeal from the Arab League,” Sun said, did not block action, as some were afraid it might.

Using airstrikes in Libya dominated discussions far beyond UN media gatherings, of course. For Li, the permanent representative, the topic remained front and center at his first and only press conference, held on March 2, and onward.

During that early session, Li revealed a dry wit and a willingness to speak at length (37 minutes) with reporters. “The media plays a very important role in the work of the Security Council,” he said. China “will monitor the situation closely,” he said of Libya, later adding that China was “very concerned” about the bloodshed in the country, but that three principles endured above all else: sovereignty, resolving the crisis through peaceful means and respecting the positions of Arab countries.

John McIlwaine/UN Photo

Li Baodong of China, with Vitaly I. Churkin, left, permanent representative of Russia to the UN; and Néstor Osorio, permanent representative of Colombia to the UN and president of the Security Council for April.

China also laid out its plan for the month at the press conference: focusing on Côte d’Ivoire, Somalia, Cyprus, Liberia (he at first said “Libya,” then laughed), Afghanistan, Eritrea, the Middle East, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Sudan, Iran and Haiti, among others. The Peacebuilding Commission’s annual report, presented by Germany, was slated for March 23; in addition, nonproliferation was on the agenda.

China was particularly geared up for an open debate on Somalia – its piracy incidents off the country’s coast, its transitional government (which is to expire in August) and its enormous humanitarian needs. The other contender for China’s attention was Afghanistan, as the UN peacebuilding mission’s mandate was to expire on March 23. (The mandate was renewed for another year.)

Li, who kept his hands folded neatly in front of him as he took questions, was asked toward the end of the conference about China’s human rights record, with a reporter stating, “Here you openly support human rights, but not so in China.”

“You raised an interesting and important question,” Li began. Then, like a dutiful professor, he delivered a brief history of China, citing the country’s adherence to peace as well as its legendary upheavals and hardships, its “lost dignity” until 1978, when it adopted its third constitution (two years after the fall of Mao Zedong). “People enjoy life, stability and peace in China,” he finished, adding, but “we must continue to reform.”

China’s mantras, “peace” and “sovereignty,” are often invoked on decisions and debates at the UN. It is the seventh-largest contributor to UN peacekeeping funds (US is the largest). In January, China donated $1 million to the UN’s capital master plan to help in the renovation of the world body. It is also the eighth-largest contributor to the current UN regular budget (about $75 million,or about 3 percent; while the US is the largest).

China stuck to its position to find a peaceful solution for both Libya and Côte d’Ivoire as violence raged in the two countries during the entire month of March. Yet at his first media stakeout, back on March 3, after the Security Council was briefed on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire by Under Secretary-General Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping, Li said that the country’s status was a “case” for invoking the UN doctrine Responsibility to Protect.

Indeed, violence increased in March in Abidjan, including a major assault against Laurent Gbagbo forces by sympathizers to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized presidential winner. By March 30, the council passed Resolution 1975 unanimously, including a yes vote from China, reinforcing an earlier version and reaffirming that the UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire has the right to use all necessary means to protect civilians, including protecting them from attacks by heavy weapons. In days, France, with support from the UN, started military airstrikes in Côte d’Ivoire to put an end to Gbagbo’s illegitimate rule.

“We don’t believe in the use of force to resolve conflicts,” Sun said of China’s yes vote. But when original language in the resolution was amended so that UN peacekeepers could not seize heavy weapons from Gbagbo soldiers, China approved the draft.

Back in February, in the throes of Libya’s revolt, China scheduled its meetings for the council presidency, not anticipating a heavy workload, Sun said. The mission presumed it could stick to its Tuesday through Thursday course, which quickly slipped into a five-day workweek, often late into the night. In fact, China totaled 33 meetings, including additional discussions with leaders from Georgia, Kenya and Palestine. Under China, the council adopted five resolutions, among those the groundbreaking resolution, 1973, authorizing the air assaults on Libya, and Resolution 1975 on Côte d’Ivoire.

China’s only initiative – the Somalia debate – was a “first step,” in trying to solve its enormous problems, Sun said. Somalia “is one of the most serious problems in Africa,” he added, noting that China would like the UN to send peacekeeping forces there and take other action. (Currently, only African Union troops are present.)

Somehow, Li found time to speak to the prestigious UN International Women’s Forum in March. His topic: “Is China an Enigma?”

“Enigma is usually translated into ‘mi’ in Chinese,” he began at the lecture. “ ‘Mi’ also means riddle in China. Riddle has been a popular game and a major entertainment for Chinese people for thousands of years. Many children grow up and learn about the world through this joyful game. So today, I would rather think of China as a riddle, instead of an ‘enigma,’ and tell you China stories.”

He’d always wanted to be a telephone operator, he went on, but at the time it was a woman’s job in China; he could learn to be a receptionist instead, his mother told him. And that is what he became – a “diplomatic receptionist for his country.”