Permanent UN Ambassador of China: "Sanctions Hinder Security Instead"
Ongoing Tensions with Russia over African Resource Mining Rights
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] China stood alone in opposition and abstained in the UN Security Council vote to extend the arms embargo on the Central African Republic (CAR). Russia, known to have violated the arms embargo the most, is reported to have led this vote, highlighting the emerging tensions between China and Russia over resource diplomacy in Africa.
According to foreign media including the Associated Press on the 29th (local time), the UN Security Council held a plenary session with representatives from all 15 member states to vote on extending the arms embargo and targeted sanctions on CAR, which have been in place since December 2013, for one more year. The vote resulted in China being the only country opposing the extension and abstaining, while the other 14 countries all supported the extension.
At a press conference, Dai Bing, China's ambassador to the UN, explained the opposition by stating, "The arms embargo on CAR was initially implemented to help restore national stability and social order, but it has now become an obstacle that hinders the strengthening of CAR government's security capabilities."
However, Russia, which has so far violated the arms embargo the most and exerted strong influence in CAR, emphasized the necessity of this measure and reportedly led the initiative. Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's ambassador to the UN, stressed at a press conference, "The CAR government must meet the conditions for the UN Security Council to lift sanctions next year," directly refuting China's claims.
The tensions between the two countries in the Security Council are interpreted as part of their competition in resource diplomacy across Africa, including CAR. CAR is known to be rich in underground resources such as diamonds, gold, and oil, and China and Russia have been competing for mineral resource extraction rights there since 2014.
Under UN Security Council sanctions, while other countries are unable to export weapons or intervene militarily in CAR, Russia has reportedly deeply involved itself in the CAR civil war by dispatching a mercenary group called the "Wagner Group," known as President Vladimir Putin's private military organization. According to a UN report published late last month cited by The New York Times (NYT), the UN investigation team stated, "Russia claimed to send 500 unarmed military advisors to train government forces under UN approval, but in reality, it deployed 2,100 armed troops through a mercenary company," criticizing that "Russian mercenaries are leading battles against CAR rebels and committing crimes such as killing civilians, rape, summary executions, and torture."
China, which has recently increased its investment in CAR, is reportedly strengthening close diplomatic ties with the CAR government to counter this. Earlier this month on the 6th, the Chinese government announced it had provided COVID-19 vaccines developed by the state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm to CAR. Notably, China has been actively pursuing resource diplomacy in Africa, especially as the US began an exit strategy from Africa and the Middle East during the previous Donald Trump administration, abandoning military intervention.
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