Second
Term
Fever of Pillay & Ban Triggers Snub of Liu Xiaobo, "UN" Prize to
Tiananmen General Chi
Haotian
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 9 -- Why did Ban Ki-moon
and now Navi Pillay hide
from the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Liu Xiaobao? Because not only
Ban but now also Navi Pillay want second terms in power, which China
could block.
When
Navi Pillay
took the post as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, most
understand that she wanted only one term. This was viewed positively,
in that she could then do what she thought was right, without
worrying about being blocked for a second term.
But
recently,
sources tell Inner City Press, Pillay has taken an interest in a
second term. This, they say, and not any unbreakable other
commitment, explains her controversial decision not to even attend
the December 10 ceremony in Oslo to award the Nobel Peace Prize to
Liu Xiaobo.
The
UN has said
that she has another commitment, and that the UN somehow wasn't
invited. During Ban's recent four day visit to China, he did not
mention the name of the Nobel Peace Prize winner. When his Under
Secretary General Sha Zukang handed an award to the general in charge
during Tiananmen Square, Ban did nothing.
Pillay & Ban, second term fever, Liu Xiaobo not shown
Inner City Press asked
then, and again on November
24:
Inner
City
Press: finally on this, there is this issue of the award that
was given by Under-Secretary-General Sha [Zukang] to Chi Haotian, the
General involved in the Tiananmen Square incident. I just, it was
left — at the time it was said that, Martin Nesirky said that, Mr.
Sha was on UN time while he was in China, but that the Secretariat
hadn’t been informed that this award was going to be given. Questions
continue. It’s been reported in China that this was a UN
award or somehow given in his official capacity. What’s the UN’s
final position on whether Mr. Sha was operating as an
Under-Secretary-General when he gave it, and if he wasn’t, what’s
going, what’s happened since?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson Farhan Haq: Mr. Sha, I believe, tried to provide
an explanation for his actions. At this point, I don’t have
anything further to say about any UN response.
Inner
City
Press: He gave an explanation to the Secretary-General’s
office?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson: To the Secretary-General’s office.
Inner
City
Press: Was it acceptable?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson: At this point I don’t have anything further
to say. We did receive an explanation.
Chinese
media have
reported that the general was given a “UN Prize” by Sha Zukang...
What will the UN -- and Navi Pillay -- do? Watch this site.
* * *
At
UN,
Finger
Pointing on Ban Human Rights in China Flap,
Nobel & Sha Unaddressed
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November
5 -- With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon under
fire for not raising human rights or the new Nobel Peace Prize winner
when he met with Chinese President Hu, for external consumption Ban
on Friday morning read out a defensive statement in a press
conference on climate change financing.
Ban
insisted that
“the record is clear” that he mentioned human rights in Nanjing
-- as a “shared value” -- and in Beijing in a speech to students.
Ban did not mention, in China or in his Friday statement, Nobel Peace
Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, nor his Under Secretary General Sha Zukang
having given a “World Harmony Foundation” award to Chinese former
military chief on October 27. (Inner City Press got Sha's side
of the
story on November 4, click here.)
Inside
the Ban
administration, sources tell Inner City Press, the finger pointing
has begun. Ban's senior adviser Kim Won-soo, the sources say, lays
the blame for the coverage on his putative superior Vijay Nambiar and
Department of Political Affairs chief Lynn Pascoe.
They
in turn pass
the blame further downstream to Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky,
pointing at days of Nesirky saying Ban did not raise human rights to
President Hu, then emailing out a late night statement that rights
had been raised to other Chinese officials, whom Nesirky has left
unnamed.
A
range of UN
officials and staff interviewed in recent days have expressed concern
that the brand of the UN has been hurt by the flap, culminating they
said in the New York Times editorial questioning whether Ban should
get a second term as Secretary General.
UN's Ban, Sha and Nambiar, Chinese rights & general not shown
While
it appears
that the staged Q&A at Friday's press conference is intended as
Ban's response to the media, some say there's a need for Ban to
address UN staff members and explain what has happened, and why. And
if his climate change press conference was “not the proper
occasion,” as he put it, to address human rights, he should set up
a separate press availability to answer questions, and not from
notes. Watch this site.
Footnote:
even
on
the topic of Friday's press conference, the report of the
High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing given to Ban by
Jens Stoltenberg of Norway and Meles Zenawi from Ethiopia, there was
no answer to the following question asked by Inner City Press at
Thursday's noon briefing:
Inner
City
Press:
On climate change, there are various people saying that,
in light of the elections that took place on Tuesday, and Obama,
President Obama’s comments yesterday afternoon at a press
conference that this makes the passage of climate change legislation
less likely in the United States, that this will impact not only the
Cancun process, but even this report that the Secretary-General is
getting tomorrow. Some that have seen the report say that it assumes
a median price of carbon of $25 a tonne by 2020, and if there is no
US legislation that will not be accurate. So, I am just wondering
what, it’s not so much a comment directly on the elections of what,
what does this, what is the Secretariat, and it… the global goods
team of the UN, does the results bode well for this report tomorrow
and for the process that he is involved in? And, if not, what’s
the plan to stay on track with the report that he is getting
tomorrow?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well,
two things. First of all, the key word there is
process. It is a process that involves all the countries in the
world in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
That is an enormous undertaking, as you know. And it involves all
countries. The second point is that the report is being launched
tomorrow. And I think it would be better to wait until then. You
will have an opportunity to see the report tomorrow.
Inner
City
Press:
Well, I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
Spokesperson:
You’ll
find out. And there are other ways to address it, even if
it isn’t at the press conference, because of the shortage of time
or whatever, but there are always [ways] to address these things.
We'll
see. Watch
this site.
* * *
, 
