Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, slammed the United States and Britain for their “total hypocrisy” in the handling of the Syrian crisis at a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, following a double veto by China and Russia that prevented the adoption of a draft resolution on Syria.
The draft resolution intended to impose sanctions on entities and individuals deemed to be involved in the production or use of chemical weapons in Syria. As two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia blocked the sanctions, drawing harsh criticism from the representatives of the US and the UK.
The United Nations Security Council holds a meeting for the voting on a Syria resolution in New York, US on February 28, 2017. /CFP Photo
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said Russia and China had made an outrageous and indefensible choice in not holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responsible for the use of chemical weapons, while her British counterpart Matthew Rycroft called the vetoes completely at odds with the principles of non-proliferation that Russia and China claimed to support.
“China is in itself a victim of the use of chemical weapons by other states,” said Ambassador Liu, who stressed China’s opposition to the use of chemical weapons.
Nevertheless, Liu noted investigations were ongoing and it was too early to reach a conclusion on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. He indicated the draft resolution was based on conclusions over which the parties still had differences, adding that the Security Council had been forced to a vote.
China's permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Liu Jieyi (C). /China-UN.org
“As we can all recall, the so-called ‘weapons of mass destruction’ were used in the past to unleash a war, which had brought untold sufferings to people in the Middle East,” said Liu. “Lessons of history must be learned. Only in this way can mistakes be avoided in the future.”
He emphasized that China is committed to facilitating the parties in Syria to find a settlement that is acceptable to all through peaceful negotiations and reach a “comprehensive, fair and proper” solution to the crisis.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley (R1, front) and UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft (L1, front) to the UN. /CFP Photo
All members of the Security Council “bear a sacred responsibility of maintaining international peace and security,” said Liu. “Unprovoked distortions and attacks against the solemn position of other members are extremely irresponsible” and “absurd.”
The Chinese ambassador added that all governments and the Security Council should reflect on the situation in Syria and the wider Middle East in order to understand how it had been allowed to degenerate, and the part they had played in that regard.
“Only talking about ‘people’ is total hypocrisy,” Liu said.
During a regular press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Ambassador Liu had fully stated China's position on the issue.
Deputy permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vladimir Safronkov (C). /CFP Photo
“China believes that, this draft resolution was based on investigation conclusions which all parties still disagree on,” said Geng.
“The damaged solidarity of the Security Council did not help solve the chemical weapons issue in Syria, let alone the political settlement of the Syrian issue,” Geng added.
He reiterated that China is committed to solving the Syrian crisis through political and diplomatic means.
Joining China and Russia, Bolivia also voted against the draft resolution, while Egypt, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained.
According to information on the UN website, China and Russia have vetoed Security Council texts on the Syrian conflict six and seven times respectively during the past five years.
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