China Forms New Global Mediation Group with Dozens of Countries

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, center, attends the signing ceremony of “the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation”, in Hong Kong, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jonathan Lee)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, center, attends the signing ceremony of “the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation”, in Hong Kong, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jonathan Lee)
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China Forms New Global Mediation Group with Dozens of Countries

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, center, attends the signing ceremony of “the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation”, in Hong Kong, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jonathan Lee)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, center, attends the signing ceremony of “the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation”, in Hong Kong, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jonathan Lee)

Dozens of countries joined China on Friday in establishing an international mediation-based dispute resolution group.

Representatives of more than 30 other countries, from Pakistan and Indonesia to Belarus and Cuba, signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong to become founding members of the global organization, following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The support of developing countries signaled Beijing's rising influence in the global south amid heightened geopolitical tensions, partly exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs.

At a ceremony, Wang said China has long advocated for handling differences with a spirit of mutual understanding and consensus-building through dialogue, while aiming to provide “Chinese wisdom” for resolving conflicts between nations.

“The establishment of the International Organization for Mediation helps to move beyond the zero-sum mindset of ‘you lose and I win,’” he said.

The body, headquartered in Hong Kong, aims to help promote the amicable resolution of international disputes and build more harmonious global relations, he said.

Beijing has touted the organization as the world's first intergovernmental legal organization for resolving disputes through mediation, saying it will be an important mechanism in safeguarding the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It also positioned Hong Kong as an international legal and dispute resolution services center in Asia.

Wang said the city's rule of law is highly developed, with the advantages of both common law and mainland Chinese law systems, asserting that it possesses uniquely favorable conditions for international mediation, The Associated Press reported.

Hong Kong leader John Lee said the organization could begin its work as early as the end of this year.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from some 50 other countries and about 20 organizations, including the United Nations.

Yueming Yan, a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the new organization is a complementary mechanism to existing institutions such as the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

“While the ICJ and PCA focus on adjudication and arbitration, IOMed introduces a structured, institutionalized form of alternative dispute resolution — namely, mediation — on a global scale,” she said.

Although many details about the new body are yet to be clarified, it could open the door for greater synergy between formal litigation or arbitration and more flexible methods like mediation, she said.

Shahla Ali, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the International Organization for Mediation would have the capacity to mediate disputes between states, between a state and a national of another state, or in international commercial disputes.

“Conventions can provide opportunities to experiment with new approaches," she said, noting rising interest in mediation globally as a means to resolve investor-state disputes.



Türkiye Says Arrests 153 Suspected ISIS Members, Associates

FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
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Türkiye Says Arrests 153 Suspected ISIS Members, Associates

FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo

Türkiye has arrested 153 presumed members of ISIS in nationwide raids, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday.

The arrests took place from Izmir and Mugla in the west and southwest, to Hatay and Mardin in the southeast and Samsun on the northern Black Sea coast.

"In the course of operations in 28 provinces over the past two weeks, our military police have detained 153 presumed members of the terrorist organization" ISIS, Yerlikaya said on X.

The suspects "have provided funds to affiliated groups" and are accused of "propaganda that benefits a terrorist organization," he said, according to AFP.

Yerlikaya said the police had acted on information from Turkish intelligence services and cooperation from authorities abroad.

Türkiye shares an 800-kilometer (500-mile) border with Syria, where ISIS claimed responsibility in late May for an attack on the new government forces in the south of the country.