International Organization for Mediation (IOMed): The United Nations (UN) has been largely unsuccessful in resolving any major conflicts in the past few decades, such as the Israel-Hamas war, the Russia-Ukraine war, and even failed to deter countries like Pakistan from supporting terror groups on its soil. All these failures have raised questions about UN’s efficacy and utility in the modern geopolitical scenario, with many describing the global body as “toothless”, and demanding a restructuring of its workings.
China to challenge the UN?
Now, China may have just taken the first step in replacing UN as the world’s foremost arbitration/mediation body, as Beijing has set up an international mediation group in Hong Kong, which includes more than 30 countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Belarus, Laos, Cambodia, and Cuba, whose representatives signed the treaty to become the founding members of the new China-led organization.
According to reports, representatives of about 50 other countries and 20 organizations, including the United Nations, attended the inauguration ceremony of the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), at its newly-established headquarters in Hong Kong.
China will play mediator
Speaking at the event, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing has long been advocating resolving differences via mutual understanding and building consensus through dialogue. Yi said China’s role in body would be to provide mediation in conflicts between countries, and stated that purpose of the body is to promote amicable resolution of international disputes to foster harmonious relations among nations.
He said the scope of cases that would be handled include disputes between countries, between a country and nationals of another country and between private international entities, Reuters reported.
‘World’s first inter-governmental legal organization’
Notably, Beijing has described IOMed as world’s first inter-governmental legal organization which aims to resolve disputes through arbitration, and act as a mechanism to safeguard principles enshrined in the UN Charter. The organization will begin operations by the end of this year, according to Hong Kong leader John Lee.
According to experts, China hopes that its new global organization will be on par with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and also bolster the credentials of Hong Kong as a global centre of arbitration of disputes among countries, akin to The Hague. Earlier this week, John Lee said the body’s status would be on part with the ICJ and the Permanent Court of Arbitration of the United Nations in The Hague, according to Reuters.
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