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Original title: The World Trade Organization nominates the first African leader, only one country opposes: the United States
[文/观察者网 齐倩]The selection of the new Director General of the World Trade Organization has entered the final stage. On October 28 local time, the WTO Director-General selected the “three-person team” to present the final recommendation to the General Council, former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
If Ngozi Okonjo is finally appointed, she will become the first woman and the first African-American Director-General of the WTO. However, at the nomination discussion meeting held that day, all the countries present expressed their support for this decision, with one exception: the United States.
According to reports from foreign media such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Okonjo-Iweala did not receive the support of the United States and the Trump administration opposed the selection of the new CEO. Between the two candidates entering the final stage, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) and Yu Mingxi (South Korea), the United States chose to continue supporting the latter.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweara, screenshot from BBC reportAfter former Director General Roberto Azevedo announced his departure in May this year, the WTO began selecting a new Director General. On October 8, the World Trade Organization announced the results of the second round of selection of the Director General. Two of the eight candidates entered the final stage, namely Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) and Yu Mingxi (South Korea). .
On 28 October local time, at the informal meeting of the heads of delegations of WTO members, the Director-General selected the “three-person team” and said that after the investigation, it was discovered that Oconcho-Iweala he received much more support than the South Korean candidate. Yu Mingxi, who was determined to be the recommended candidate for the new CEO. Oconjo Iveara said she was “deeply honored” to be nominated.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, was Nigeria’s Prime Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He worked as a development economist at the World Bank for 25 years and has experience fighting COVID-19. According to the British “Financial Times”, Okonjo-Iweala has dual citizenship of the United States and Nigeria. As director of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, she understands the importance of open trade to ensure the effective movement of medical supplies. If she is finally appointed, she will become the first woman in the WTO and the first CEO of African descent.
But the United States opposed this decision. The US government has repeatedly criticized the WTO for “the way it handles world trade” and hopes that South Korean candidate Yu Myung Hee can make “reforms” after taking office.
On October 28, after the informal meeting of the heads of the WTO member delegations,Spokesman Keith Rockwell said: “There is only one delegation that does not support Dr. Ngozi’s candidacy and said they will continue to support the South Korean minister. This delegation is the United States.”The Yonhap news agency, South China Morning Post and other media noted that 28 delegations from member states participated in the meeting and 27 expressed their support.
Rockwell said WTO members will hold a general council meeting on the selection of the director-general on November 9, and he hopes to make a decision on the final nominee for director-general by then. He told reporters there may be “frenzied activity” to ensure the final appointment is agreed.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative stated in a statement that the organization “must be led by someone with practical experience in the field,” and that Yu Mingxi “stands out” as a trade expert and “has the ability to become into an effective leader of the organization. ” All the necessary skills. “
The statement also said: “For the WTO and international trade, now is a very difficult period: there have been no multilateral tariff negotiations for 25 years, the dispute settlement mechanism has gotten out of hand, and there are very few member states that comply. Basic transparency obligations. The WTO has an urgent need to make major reforms. “
Statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, photographed on social media sitesBased on the Director-General selection process, the WTO General Council will initiate a final round of consultations with member states and inquire about expected candidates. The final candidate is expected to be decided before November 9. As usual, the appointment of the Director-General of the WTO is subject to the unanimous consent of the 164 member states.
The BBC noted that the US opposition does not mean that Oconjo Iweala cannot be appointed, but the US can still exert considerable influence in the final decision. The British “Guardian” quoted a source in Geneva as saying that the US position may be affected by the results of the presidential elections next week (November 3).
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the United States has interrupted the “pace of work” at the WTO. Prior to this, the United States not only blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO Appellate Body, but also US President Trump frequently “retired”. In September last year, Trump threatened that if the WTO was not reformed, the United States would withdraw from the organization. In February this year, Trump was exposed again, considering pulling out of the WTO government procurement deal.
At the end of May this year, Zhou Xiaoming, a former deputy representative of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations in Geneva and a columnist for the Observer Network, issued a statement saying that the United States, who shouted to “withdraw from the group,” he actually highly values the selection of the CEO. To regain the opportunity to dominate the WTO agenda, I hope that people who are comfortable will fill this important position.
