| UN S 1999/201 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 02-25 1999 |
| Meeting no. | 3982 |
| Code | S/1999/201 |
| Subject | Macedonia |
Voting summary |
|
United Nations Security Council Resolution S/1999/201 was proposed on February 25, 1999, on whether to send a reserve intervention force to Macedonia. China used its veto to boycott in retaliation for Macedonia's establishment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and the case failed. [1] [2]
On January 27, 1999, the Republic of Macedonia established diplomatic relations with the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). China quickly retaliated and threatened to make necessary countermeasures at the United Nations. [3]
Earlier on February 25, U.N. officials told The Associated Press that China intended to veto the U.N. resolution and block the duration of the presence of peacekeepers in Macedonia. The 1,100-strong force was stationed at Skopje Airport in 1993, and their mission was to prevent the spread of hostilities from Yugoslavia. [4]
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhang Qiyue issued a statement saying "there is no more need for China to yield to the request of the Macedonia side". This hints that China will take stronger diplomatic retaliation, [4] and China has severed diplomatic relations with Macedonia on February 9. [3]
The overwhelming majority of Council members agreed to continue sending a preventive intervention force to Macedonia. The resolution was supported by 13 countries, with 1 abstention (Russia) and 1 vote against (China). [5] Because China is a permanent member of the Security Council, the resolution was not passed. [6]
| Approved (13) | Abstained (1) | Opposed (1) |
|---|---|---|
China's permanent representative to the United Nations did not speak until after the vote. Qin Huasun believes that the situation in Macedonia has improved, and there is no need to extend any preventive intervention force. He also called out the participating countries not to interfere in China's decision., [2] [6] and stated:
We believe that deciding one’s own position on the merits of a matter is the right of every sovereign State. Some countries made accusations against China. Those accusations are totally groundless.
This is the second time China has used its veto power at the United Nations over the additional Taiwan issue. Last time, in 1997, China also vetoed sending military observers to Guatemala, because Guatemala has diplomatic relations with Taiwan. [6] [7] Besides, it supports Taiwan's return to the United Nations in the name of the Republic of China. [8]
The foreign relations of North Macedonia since its independence in 1991 have been characterized by the country's efforts to gain membership in international organizations such as NATO and the European Union and to gain international recognition under its previous constitutional name, overshadowed by a long-standing, dead-locked dispute with neighboring Greece. Greek objections to the country's name had led to it being admitted to the United Nations and several other international fora only under the provisional designation Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia until its official and erga omnes renaming to North Macedonia, a name under which it is now universally recognised.
Foreign relations of the Republic of China (ROC), more commonly known as Taiwan, are accomplished by efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China, a cabinet-level ministry of the Government of the Republic of China. As of January 2024, the ROC has formal diplomatic relations with 11 of the 193 United Nations member states and with the Holy See, which governs the Vatican City State. In addition to these relations, the ROC also maintains unofficial relations with 59 UN member states, one self-declared state (Somaliland), three territories (Guam, Hong Kong, and Macau), and the European Union via its representative offices and consulates. In 2021, the Government of the Republic of China had the 33rd largest diplomatic network in the world with 110 offices.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. Its powers as outlined in the United Nations Charter include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. The UNSC is the only UN body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states.
The member states of the United Nations comprise 193 sovereign states. The United Nations (UN) is the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly.
China is one of the members of the United Nations and is one of five permanent members of its Security Council. One of the victorious Allies of World War II, the Republic of China (ROC) joined the UN as one of its founding member countries in 1945. The subsequent resumption of the Chinese Civil War between the government of Republic of China and the rebel forces of the Chinese Communist Party, led to the latter's victory on the mainland and the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Nearly all of mainland China was soon under its control and the ROC government retreated to the island of Taiwan.
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, also known as the Resolution on Admitting Peking, was passed in response to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 that required any change in China's representation in the UN be determined by a two-thirds vote referring to Article 18 of the UN Charter. The resolution, passed on 25 October 1971, recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) as "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" and removed "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" from the United Nations.
The United Nations General Assembly has granted observer status to international organizations, entities, and non-member states, to enable them to participate in the work of the United Nations General Assembly, though with limitations. The General Assembly determines the privileges it will grant to each observer, beyond those laid down in a 1986 Conference on treaties between states and international organizations. Exceptionally, the European Union (EU) was in 2011 granted the right to speak in debates, to submit proposals and amendments, the right of reply, to raise points of order and to circulate documents, etc. As of May 2011, the EU is the only international organization to hold these enhanced rights, which has been likened to the rights of full membership, short of the right to vote.
The Russian Federation succeeded to the Soviet Union's seat, including its permanent membership on the Security Council in the United Nations after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, which originally co-founded the UN in 1945. The succession was supported by the USSR's former members and was not objected to by the UN membership; Russia accounted for more than 75% of the Soviet Union's economy, the majority of its population and 75% of its land mass; in addition, the history of the Soviet Union began in Russia with the October Revolution in 1917 in Petrograd. If there was to be a successor to the Soviet seat on the Security Council among the former Soviet republics, these factors made Russia seem a logical choice. Nonetheless, due to the rather inflexible wording of the UN Charter and its lack of provision for succession, the succession's technical legality has been questioned by some international lawyers.
The United Nations Security Council veto power is the power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to veto any decision other than a "procedural" decision.
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 377 A, the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, states that in any cases where the Security Council, because of a lack of unanimity among its five permanent members (P5), fails to act as required to maintain international security and peace, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately and may issue appropriate recommendations to UN members for collective measures, including the use of armed force when necessary, in order to maintain or restore international security and peace. It was adopted 3 November 1950, after fourteen days of Assembly discussions, by a vote of 52 to 5, with 2 abstentions. The resolution was designed to provide the UN with an alternative avenue for action when at least one P5 member uses its veto to obstruct the Security Council from carrying out its functions mandated by the UN Charter.
The Formosa Resolution of 1955 was a joint resolution passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 29, 1955, to counteract the threat of an invasion of Taiwan by the People's Republic of China (PRC). The resolution gave the U.S. president the authority "to employ the Armed Forces of the United States as he deems necessary for the specific purpose of securing and protecting Formosa and the Pescadores against armed attack [by the Communists]".
Non-interventionism or non-intervention is commonly understood as "a foreign policy of political or military non-involvement in foreign relations or in other countries' internal affairs". This is based on the grounds that a state should not interfere in the internal politics of another state as well as the principles of state sovereignty and self-determination. A similar phrase is "strategic independence".
The use of force by states is controlled by both customary international law and by treaty law. The UN Charter reads in article 2(4):
All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.
The United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) was established on 31 March 1995 in Security Council Resolution 983 to replace the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the Republic of Macedonia. The mandate of UNPREDEP remained essentially the same: to monitor and report any developments in the border areas which could undermine confidence and stability in the country and threaten its territory. It is widely considered to be an instance of a successful deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in the prevention of conflict and violence against civilians. The operation was shut down on 28 February 1999, after its last extension in Resolution 1186 when China vetoed its renewal in 1999 following Macedonia's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan. This mission was unique as it was the first peacekeeping operation to undertake conflict prevention before the outbreak of conflict. The premature termination of UNPREDEP in 1999 predates the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1186, adopted unanimously on 21 July 1998, after recalling resolutions 1105 (1997) and 1110 (1997), the Council extended and strengthened the mandate of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in Macedonia until 28 February 1999.
China–Palestine relations, also referred to as Sino–Palestinian relations, encompass the long bilateral relationship between China and Palestine dating back from the early years of the Cold War.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine violated international law. The invasion has also been called a crime of aggression under international criminal law, and under some countries' domestic criminal codes – including those of Ukraine and Russia – although procedural obstacles exist to prosecutions under these laws.
The North Macedonia–Taiwan relations refers to the bilateral relations between North Macedonia and Taiwan. Diplomatic relations were established in 1999, but were severed in 2001.
Expulsion from the United Nations is a procedure under Article 6, Chapter II of the United Nations Charter when a member state of the United Nations can be expelled from the organization. This can be done when a member state has persistently violated the principles of the United Nations Charter. No state has ever been expelled from the UN, although the exclusion of the Republic of China through General Assembly Resolution 2758 had a similar effect.
Qin Huasun was a Chinese diplomat who served as the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations from 1995 to 2000 and Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1995.
