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Updated Wednesday, February 15, 2012 0:02 am TWN, By Frank Ching

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UN veto suggests assertive China

Beijing's veto, along with that of Moscow, of a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Syria reflects a more assertive China in contrast with an earlier period in which the Chinese would simply go along with the majority by abstaining.

As the Global Times, an official English-language daily, said in a commentary: “In past years, despite strong opposition against certain UNSC resolution, China has often abstained, allowing what it was against to happen. That era is gone.”

The vote on Feb. 4 marks a clear departure from the policy a year ago, when China, along with Russia, Germany, Brazil and India, abstained on a U.N. resolution calling for the imposition of a no-fly zone in Libya and authorizing “all necessary measures” to “protect civilians.”

The 10 other members of the Security Council, including South Africa, which along with Brazil, Russia, India and China, are members of the BRICS grouping of nations, all voted for the resolution.

Subsequently, China and Russia both cried foul and accused NATO of going beyond the terms of the resolution to help the rebels overthrow the government of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi.

Asked why China did not veto the Libya resolution, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi responded: “Taking into account the concerns and positions of the Arab countries and the Arab League and the special situation in Libya at that time, China joined some other countries to vote in abstention.”

This reflected the importance that China attached to regional organizations. There was a feeling that while China should not interfere in the internal affairs of a country, it was different if a regional body of which that country was a member took action. Thus, on the Sudan issue, China gave weight to the position of the African Union.

This time, however, even though the draft U.N. Security Council resolution, which condemned “all violence, irrespective of where it comes from,” was sponsored by Morocco on behalf of the Arab League, China vetoed the resolution while insisting that it “supported the Arab League's 'good office' efforts to restore stability in Syria.”

While still paying lip service to the Arab League, China has clearly decided that it would make its own decisions where its interests are concerned.

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Comments

February 16, 2012 valwayne@

China can afford to be assertive! It’s dealing with a U.S. that has been forced into a disastrous decline by Obama, the weakest and most failed President in U.S. history!

February 17, 2012 elumpen@

China apparently hasn't noticed, but the entire point of the UN is to interfere with the "sovereign right" of other countries when necessary. If they find that a difficult concept to grasp, they should retire from the Security Council and give their place to a nation with some civic responsibility.