UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti for eight months following an agreement between the United States and China on the length of the new mandate.
In a report in December, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended that the 8,800-strong mission be extended for one year when its mandate expired February 15, a view backed by the Friends of Haiti, whose members include the United States, Canada, Brazil, France and Britain.
But China, which has no diplomatic relations with Haiti, pushed for a six-month mandate.
Diplomats in Haiti have said China wanted the shorter mandate because of Haiti’s support for Taiwan’s bid to join the United Nations. Haiti is one of a handful of countries that has diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island.
Posted by haitinews 
