PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) - Haiti's need for United Nations peacekeepers to remain for an extended mandate suddenly took on new complexity this week, when the impoverished nation found itself entangled in the diplomatic standoff between China and Taiwan.
The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) with its 6,000 peacekeepers including Chinese forces costs 500 million dollars per year with its mandate due to expire June 1.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the interim government of Haiti -- which has a long-standing relationship with Taiwan as opposed to China -- have called for the mandate to be extended by one year from that date.
But, say Western diplomats and Haitian officials, China is insistent that MINUSTAH's mandate be renewed for six months only, making the atmosphere at the UN Security Council, where Beijing has veto power, quite uncomfortable.
The reason for China's opposition? A visit to Taiwan -- which China views as its own renegade province -- by interim Haitian President Alexandre Boniface scheduled for July.
For the United Nations, curtailing the peacekeepers' mission in Haiti as requested by China is out of the question.
The first elections since Aristide left office amid an uprising in February 2004 are to be held in Haiti later this year, beginning with a municipal vote on October 9 to be followed by legislative and presidential elections to be held in two rounds on November 13 and December 18.
The country has had heightened incidents of violence in recent months.
A compromise, however, has been proposed that would see the peacekeepers' mandate extended for nine months instead. This weekend, China's partners at the Security Council were still waiting for its response.
While Taiwan has had close ties with Haiti for more than 40 years, the People's Republic of China does not have diplomatic relations with Haiti, and Beijing has only had a token trade office in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince for two years.
The Taiwanese meanwhile are much involved in development projects such as highway construction and Taipei's diplomacy has been both aggressive and generous.
Taiwan was heavily involved in the rehabilitation of Port-au-Prince's stadium last year, a project it financed which was quickly finalised for a gala match involving Brazil in a move highly appreciated in Haiti.
For China, though, it is unacceptable that the Haitian president would visit Taiwan which it considers as part of its own territory.
To undermine tension, Haitian interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue promised to make an official visit to Beijing in the fall, but, according to a Haitian source, refuses to have the president's trip to Taiwan cancelled.
"It is out of the question to have China dictate the decisions," the source said.
A visit to China by Latortue would serve the purposes of both China and Haiti, said the source, who believes a deterioration of relations between Haiti and China would not serve Chinese interests.
This is the first time in its history that China has deployed peacekeepers in the Americas.
Around 140 Chinese policemen have been in the Haitian capital since mid-2004 to help stabilize the fragile situation, with security still a serious problem.
China recently let it be known that it would add 125 new police to the peacekeeping contingent for Haiti's presidential, legislative and municipal elections.
That would give Beijing three police units in Haiti as opposed to the current two.
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05-28-05, 09:23 PM
Haiti gets caught up in China-Taiwan standoff
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