China severed its diplomatic ties with the Republic of Macedonia earlier in the month, on February 9, 1999 as a response of Macedonia's recognition of Taiwan in late January. The recognition was apparently planned in advance of the 1998 parliamentary elections in Macedonia as a way to bring over one billion dollars of foreign investment to the cash-strapped country promised to the electorate by one of the parties in the winning coalition - the Democratic Alternative. The plans were also kept secret from the country's president Kiro Gligorov who has a largely ceremonial post and was nominated by the former communist Social-Democratic Union.

Several alternatives are being considered by the Macedonian government after China's veto. One option is to replace UNPREDEP with the same American and Scandinavian forces under a different flag and paid for by the individual countries. They could also be merged into the Kosovo monitors extraction force already in Macedonia. Lastly, there is some hope that China will reconsider its veto.