India
Beats
China for
"Chinese" Seat
on JIU, Where
Tarasov
Goes from
Kuwait?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 22, updated
-- As the two
most populous
countries on
Earth,
except along
their border
it's rare for
India and
China to face
off.
But it
happened
Tuesday at the
UN for a seat
on the
Geneva-based
Joint
Inspection
Unit.
That
there was
even a
competition
was
surprising. Of
the JIU's 11
inspectors,
retiring
American
Deborah Wynes
was replaced
without any
opposition,
on a so-called
clean slate,
by another
American,
George
Bartisiotas.
Russian
Nikolay
Chulkov was
similarly
replaced by
Gennady
Tarasov, who's
been serving
as UN
High-Level
Coordinator
for Kuwaiti
missing
property. (The
Russian
Mission has
been asked by
Inner City
Press to
confirm that
Tarasov will
resign from
the Kuwait
post to join
the JIU, as at
least one
source says he
will, adding
that
simultaneous
service would
not be
possible.)
Update
of Nov 23:
a senior
Russian source
says that the
JIU term,
contrary to
the
information
sheet put out
by the UN,
begins in
2013, so
"Tarasov has a
full year" to
continue on
Kuwait. Duly
noted.
But
which China's
ZHANG Yishang
retired, not
only Chinese
ZHANG Yan (his
country's
ambassador to
Delhi) ran --
India's A.
Gopinathan
also entered
the
race. And by a
vote of 106 to
77, Gopinathan
won.
Adding
insult to
injury, Indian
media reported
that "China's
Zhang Yishan
was
already a
member of the
JIU and was
seeking
renewal of his
term."
But Yishan is
retiring -
it's Yan who
ran and lost:
to now remain
in
Delhi?
(c) UN Photo
Ban Ki-moon
& Tarasov,
now bound for
JIU which has
criticized Ban
India
says it
didn't know
that China was
putting
forward a
candidate for
the seat
Yishan had
occupied,
saying "there
are no
Permanent
seats"
on the JIU.
But with
Russia and the
US replacing
their own
candidates
unopposed, it
sure looks
like there
are. Watch
this site.
, 
