China is on the verge of selecting which of two Latin American women will become the first female head of the United Nations, following three rounds of informal Security Council voting that failed to yield a clear frontrunner.
UN delegations that briefed the South China Morning Post over the last three days indicated that Beijing is evaluating Rebeca Grynspan, the Costa Rican economist leading UN Trade and Development, and Carolyn Rodrigues‑Birkett, Guyana’s ambassador to the United Nations.
The same sources noted that China has excluded Rafael Grossi, the Argentine director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, from consideration. Grossi is regarded as Washington’s preferred nominee and was put forward last year by Argentine President Javier Milei.
China has maintained cordial yet strained relations with Milei since his 2023 presidential campaign, during which he labelled the Chinese government “assassins” and pledged to sever ties in favor of what he described as the “civilised side of life”.