UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Reuter) - A top aide to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali intends to intervene in the dispute between China and women's groups following Beijing's refusal on Wednesday to change the meeting sites.
Diplomats said Ismat Kittani, an undersecretary-general and special adviser to Boutros-Ghali, is expected to go to Beijing in June to seek a compromise for the international women's forum that may draw more than 40,000 people to the Chinese capital, beginning August 30.
Non-governmental women's groups have protested China's decision to house them in a rural resort outside the capital, saying they would not have enough access to the main conference centre and space for their own strategy meetings.
China says the move is necessary because the city stadium has been deemed structurally unfit. Diplomats and some U.N.officials say, however, that Beijing appears to be wary of potential demonstrations by non-governmental groups on political and human rights issues and wants to isolate the NGO forum as much as
possible.
Major U.N. conferences are often divided into two parts, the official meeting where government delegations work out accords and a separate forum for private groups.
These groups, known as Non-Governmental Organisations or NGOs, hammer out a platform of their own and attend formal meetings to lobby government representatives.
In recent years, the NGO Forums have become almost as important as the official bodies. This is especially true for women's groups where the building of a women's movement often has morelasting resonance than the official meeting results.
NGO Forum leaders are still working out their reaction to the latest response from China. But Irene Santiago of the Philippines, executive director of the NGO Forum, said there were only 16,000 beds, at most, in the town of Huairou to accomodate twice as many participants.
One possibility, she said, is asking governments to postpone the conference, cancel it or move it elsewhere.
China, in a letter sent to Khunying Supatra Masdit of Thailand, head of the facilitating committee of the NGO Forum, said Huairou, a sleepy resort about an hour's drive from Beijing, would remain the venue for the women's groups.
The letter from Huang Qizao of the All-China Women's Federation outlined transportation and meeting sites in Huairou and another hall closer to the conference.
"We should realise that..the China Organising Committee has already made great human material and financial input in Huairou and thus the sincerity of the Chinese side should be understood," she said.
Several nations, including France, representing the European Community, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, have either spoken to Chinese authorities or Boutros-Ghali in an effort to seek a solution.
"I hope that the Chinese as hosts will remember that one of the first rules of being a good host is to provide the proper accommodations and make everybody feel welcome," said U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright.
A second issue of contention is the admission of some Taiwanese and Tibetan women's organisations, which have been denied accreditation by the United Nations, most likely under pressure from China.
As a result of protests the U.N. Economic and Social Council is reviewing applications of these groups and others denied accreditation but will not complete its work for weeks.
