Topic: 2025 – Situation in Mali
Country: China
Delegate Name: Shriya Nallan Chakravarthi
United Nations Security Council
Situation in Mali
People’s Republic of China
Shriya Nallan Chakravarthi
Forest Hills Eastern High School
Lines stretch for kilometers outside of Mali gas stations for traumatized civilians waiting, hoping for fuel to slip through the pump. Al-Qaeda related terrorist groups choke Mali’s fuel supply, cutting off the landlocked state’s main connection to resources: the Senegal and the Ivory Coast ports. When Malian people seek some sort of constant return to their homes, with or without fuel, electricity comes on only for a couple of hours. Everything is volatile because of the power struggle between an armed government, JNIM, MNLA, and outside influence from France and Russian mercenaries, complicating the conflict. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) attempted peacekeeping through MINUSMA, with the People’s Republic of China sending armored vehicles to the Mali Junta; however, China voted in favor of retreating from Mali in 2023 due to MINUSMA ultimately fueling more hostility and violence. Chinese forces are currently pulling out due to constant instability in the region, but investments in Mali may be key to stability.
China is a key player in investing in the Sahel region’s stability through the UNSC. In fact, through MINUSMA in August 2013, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army gave the Malian army military supplies totalling about $2.8 million US Dollars, with similar donation amounts in 2014 and 2023. However, that has ceased with the pullback on MINUSMA. Regardless, China continues to support the Junta through small arms shipments of armored vehicles, drones, and communications equipment under China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI), a security sector framework focused on peace rather than hostile security, like many other frameworks in place. Although the GSI works well in domestic affairs, Mali lacks a robust security sector, and China’s direct help has not yet delivered its full impact. China invests in both economic activities and infrastructure. First, China has many mining sites in Mali to bolster its economy. JNIM specifically, however, has attacked these sites, killed three workers, and abducted two workers at a gold mining site in Narena, 100 kilometers southwest of Bamako. Terrorist groups jeopardize the development of a resilient economy, while there is no powerful government to control them. The Wagner Group and military Junta, now working as the African Corps, exacerbate the hostility in the area and weaken any political power to oversee and incentivise economic stability for all parties. Secondly, China invests in infrastructure. Through the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) in 2015, China signed to finance and renovate the 644 kilometers of rail in Mali and modernize 22 stations, aiming to significantly increase train speeds and facilitate the transport of goods as part of an initiative to improve African infrastructure, connecting landlocked nations like Mali to coastal ports for resource export. Again, the Mali war has halted much development, yet the principle still stands: regional economic integration and interdependence with global powers will bolster Mali’s economic resilience and thus stability.
The People’s Republic of China urges the UNSC to intervene in a manner that is receptive to all parties involved: the Malian government, the MNLA, JNIM, innocent civilians, and the other countries with infrastructure in the region. Being the second largest contributor to UNSC funding and peacekeeping, we strive to strategically invest in important areas, creating opportunities for economic stability will allow the UNSC to reattempt negotiations or peacekeeping operations. China is hesitant to concede to terrorist groups; however, these concessions must be made on neutral grounds through multilateral counterterrorism efforts. Rebuilding Mali’s security sector will be difficult, but China will use its GSI to create a framework that will allow for slow but steady economic development in Mali to quell the hostility before the UNSC can attempt another intervention to end this war.
