Haiti mandate extended 24 days

As predicted, the extension of the UN mandate in Haiti was held up due to the China-Taiwan dispute. Instead of a one year or six month extension, the UN passed a "technical rollover" to extend the mandate until 24 June so they can debate the issue further. Pretty much everyone except China is pushing for a one year extension.

Also today, there was more violence in Haiti and the International Crisis Group said the UN needs more security authority than it already has.

One interesting line from the AP article on the UN debate:

The vote suggested China and the rest of the Security Council might be close to resolving the dispute. If neither side saw a solution, the other council members would be more likely to force China to cast a politically damaging veto to block help for impoverished Haiti.

While the Chinese veto would be damaging for Haiti, it would almost be worse for China. As I wrote in a previous post, it would deny China a chance to keep military presence in the hemisphere and it would anger economic allies like Brazil and Argentina. In the meantime, we'd certainly work out a short term compromise to keep non-UN troops in Haiti at least through the elections at the end of the year.

The clock is ticking towards elections and things aren't getting better while the UN sits and debates petty Chinese internal politics. I hope Brazil, Argentina and other countries with peacekeepers realize that it's China holding up the debate over the mandate governing their troops.