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China is pushing to host a global ocean protection body, aiming to capitalise on the US’s retreat from leadership on multilateral and environmental issues under President Donald Trump.
At UN-brokered talks in New York in the past week, China has lobbied hard to become the first Asia-Pacific host of a major UN body, said people with knowledge of the discussions.
This body will help govern the UN High Seas treaty, which provides a legal pathway to the commitment to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
During a series of private meetings with country representatives and non-profit organisations, China said it could fill a vacuum left by the US’s turn away from multilateralism and from the UN, according to three people present. “They’re not beating about the bush with respect to the US,” said one.
China offered more than $70mn in funding for ocean protection. It also promised at the meetings in New York to be “flexible” on the question of visas, and to offer immunity to diplomats and campaigners who would attend the meetings to implement the treaty in the port city of Xiamen, those present said.
More than 80 countries that have ratified the treaty are expected to vote next January on the rival bids by Chile, Belgium and China to host the global forum for oceans governance discussions covering the UN — similar to the annual UN climate “conference of the parties” or COP.
The first oceans COP will aim to start establishing marine-protected zones and monitoring mechanisms, and will be supported by a scientific and technical body and secretariat.
The legally binding oceans agreement that came into force in January this year gives governments a forum to designate, fund and govern protected zones, and to resolve who profits from lucrative genetic resources found at sea.
The US was among the nations that signed the treaty in 2023 but has not ratified it. Under the present Trump administration, contributions to the UN budget have been slashed.
Top Chinese political leadership had backed the well-funded bid, “informed by the absence of the US”, said Shuo Li, director of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute think-tank.
“They see this as an opportunity for them to step up to take international responsibility and to cast a contrast with the US,” said the Washington-based analyst.
A host of senior Chinese diplomats introduced its bid in New York, including foreign minister Wang Yi via a video message. China’s permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Fu Cong, said: “In a world of growing uncertainty, China will remain a steadfast pillar of multilateralism.”
Yi Xianliang, a Chinese diplomat leading the bid, declined to comment.
Countries including Belarus, which has not signed the treaty, Pakistan, and small-island states Vanuatu and Dominica voiced their support for China’s bid, those present at the New York meetings said.
However, some countries expressed concerns about handing considerable influence over ocean governance matters to a country with a vast array of maritime border issues, and a record of surveilling human rights and environmental activists. China is also by far the most active country in exploiting international waters through fishing.
China argued last week that the creation of marine protected areas — a key goal of the treaty — could be vetoed by any country if these are perceived to interfere with national sovereignty.
The EU negotiating bloc raised concerns during the New York talks about China’s oversight role as potential host of a data-exchange mechanism through which countries would share information about lucrative patents and marine genetic findings.
While details of the host country’s powers are still being settled, it is expected to exert considerable influence over the organisation’s funding and future direction.
“The race against Chile was a matter of geography, pragmatism . . . With China in the race it is about what type of implementation of the treaty do you want,” a person close to the Belgian bid said.
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