By John J. Metzler

UNITED NATIONS ― When U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made an official visit through Southeast Asia and China, few even cynical observers assumed that the China stopover promoting a “harmonious world” would turn into a typhoon of controversy.

Though the secretary general’s visit for the official closing of the Shanghai World Expo should have been a happy pro-forma event, instead was shrouded in damage control for one of his senior Chinese staffers.

First, U.N. Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang, a Chinese national, presented an award to General Chi Haotian for his contributions in promoting peaceful relations between China and the World.

General Chi who was military leader of the regime’s bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989, was no doubt flattered by an award from the “World Harmony Foundation.”

General Chi’s award, presented in Shanghai just days before Secretary General Ban arrived for the Expo’s closing ceremonies was not likely cleared by U.N. higher-ups but at the same time suggested the blessing and the high profile “face” of a very senior U.N. official.

Sha, has long been a loose cannon on the deck of Ban’s ship of state. A blame game has since ricocheted round the halls of diplomacy.

Sha was recently profiled in the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph for crudely criticizing Ban at a closed-door U.N. confab for ranking officials.

Diplomats present were shocked at Sha’s “more than candid” personal swipe at the South Korean secretary general and further flabbergasted by Sha’s follow-up remarks that “he does not like Americans very much either.”

Sha’s award to his “old friend” General Chi would mean little if it did not carry the implied political imprimatur of the U.N. and offer a level of legitimacy to a military man responsible for the 1989 Beijing crackdown.

Ban’s three city stop in China produced more political sturm and drang, or actually painfully little concerning human rights and specifically China’s new Nobel Laureate Prof. Liu Xiaobo.

In meeting with Hu Jintao, Chinese president and general-secretary of the Communist Party, and we may say chairman of the Board of China Inc. the U.N.’s Ban soft-pedaled human rights issues and moreover curried political favor with Beijing’s Marxist Mandarins.

Then during a prominent, if overlooked, address at Beijing’s “Communist Party of China Central Party School,” Ban described the assembled cadres as “an eminent group, the future leaders of China.” The CCP is comprised of fewer than 5 percent of all Chinese.

After the warm-up saying the “U.N. Charter resonates almost perfectly with the concept of a harmonious world,” and after a perfunctory tip to “respect for human rights,” Ban told assembled cadres, “I know that many of you at the Central Party School in China have devoted much time and thought to global governance in our changing world.” Indeed they have!

He added, “Clearly China is on the rise. Its transformation has been profound. Its influence is increasingly global. Its power is real … I believe this rise is beneficial to the world.”

But generic human rights mentioned by Secretary General Ban are grudgingly acceptable to China as the Beijing rulers will state he is speaking about somewhere else.

Only one quote came close to being candid: “we recognize that achieving the shared goal of human rights around the world is more than an aspiration, it is a foundation of peace and harmony in our modern world.”

China’s fury over the upcoming Nobel Prize ceremony, Beijing’s buffo arrogance in demanding that European countries boycott the Nobel Prize presentation ceremony in Oslo, Norway, underline the PRC’s political uncertainty.

Such tactics may work on the mainland but don’t play well in the mainstream European Union where Beijing’s bullying will likely backfire.

Still China has strong economic cards to play; President Hu on a visit to France pledged over $20 billion in contracts for French companies. The Chinese also hosted a huge British trade delegation led by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Now the U.N. campaign season commences. After having been elected in 2006 as the new U.N. chief, Ban is coming to the end of his five-year term. So presuming he will run again as the “Asian candidate,” Ban must court the political mandarins in China lest Beijing cool to his candidacy.

To the contrary of his global charm offensive, Ban must equally remain focused on human rights as his mandate demands.

John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is author of “Transatlantic Divide; USA Euroland Rift? (University Press, 2010). He can be reached at jjmcolumn@earthlink.net.