China Gets in Middle of Kenya-Djibouti Fight for UN Security Council Seat

Pass Blue posted on 24 January 2020 an article titled "As Kenya and Djibouti Fight Over a UN Security Council Seat, China Pops Up" by Maurizio Guerrero.

African countries hold three rotating seats on the UN Security Council. One of the seats is up for election for the 2021-2022 period. Normally, the African Union proposes a consensus African candidate that is then agreed to by two-thirds of UN General Assembly members. Kenya was the consensus African Union candidate but Djibouti cried foul and continued to pursue the seat.

China implied publicly on different occasions that it would support both Kenya and Djibouti. It has important interests in both countries. This confusion caused concern in Kenya and Djibouti, prompting Beijing to declare neutrality in the dispute and saying it must be resolved in Africa.