China is pushing to cut UN human rights experts in Africa,

China is pushing to cut United Nations funding for human rights monitoring posts in Africa, according to diplomats speaking to New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW).

China’s negotiators at the UN budget negotiations are pushing to cut 19 human rights experts in the Central African Republic, diplomats who spoke anonymously said. One told HRW that doing so would effectively end the UN’s ability to monitor violence against women and children in the country.

Beijing representatives are also pressing for funding cuts to missions in Mali and South Sudan that could affect human rights monitoring, and to defund human rights posts at the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, diplomats said.