China Vows Veto of Macedonia Force Renewal

China announced Wednesday that it will veto a Security Council resolution renewing the U.N. peacekeeping force in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, which recently established relations with Taiwan.

The future of the 1,049-member unit--including 362 U.S. troops--was thrown into doubt after Chinese Ambassador Qin Huasun said Beijing will make rare use of its veto power as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council today, when the full panel is scheduled to take up the matter.

The resolution calls for the force, which was designed to prevent the spread of violence from war-torn portions of the former Yugoslav federation, to stay in Macedonia until the end of August.

China said that despite reservations in the past, it had cooperated with other council members and the Macedonian government.

“Now, as is known to all, the situation has changed,” Qin said outside the council’s chamber. “So China no longer finds it necessary to allow the further requests of Macedonia.”

China was angered last month when Macedonia established diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

In a report to the council supporting an extension of the force, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “Peace and stability in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia continue to depend largely on developments in other parts of the region, in particular in Kosovo.”

Annan said the situation in Kosovo--a separatist province of Serbia, the dominant republic of what remains of Yugoslavia--could lead to “all-out civil war in the province” that might have repercussions for the entire region.

In the past, China has used its muscle on the council against selected peacekeeping operations.

In 1997, it voted to block sending military observers to monitor peace accords in Guatemala, which also had diplomatic relations with Taiwan. But 10 days later it changed its position after presumably receiving promises that Guatemala would stop supporting Taiwan’s attempt to become a U.N. member.

China objected the same year to the presence of U.N. troops in Haiti because the nation also had extended diplomatic recognition to Taiwan. But after the Chinese ambassador said he had no new instructions from Beijing and left the Security Council chamber, the other 14 members authorized keeping 500 troops and additional civilian police in the Caribbean country.

Diplomats said one option in case China does not change its mind in the case of Macedonia would be for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to send a contingent of peacekeepers to the Balkan country.