China, Russia block US push for UN sanctions on N. Korea
North Korea has launched a series of missile tests, asserting its ‘legitimate right’ to self-defence. (AP pic)
UNITED NATIONS: China and Russia today blocked a US push to impose United Nations sanctions on five North Koreans in response to recent missile launches by Pyongyang, diplomats told AFP.
China’s block came before a new closed-door Security Council meeting on North Korea, also requested by Washington, and was followed by Russia’s decision to similarly oppose the American proposal.
Along with Beijing, Moscow has long held a line against increasing pressure on North Korea, even asking for relief from international sanctions for humanitarian reasons.
Last week, after Washington levied sanctions on five North Koreans linked to the country’s ballistic missile programme, the US undertook a campaign within the 15-member Security Council to extend UN sanctions to those same five people.
The US treasury department said one of the North Koreans, Choe Myong-hyon, was based in Russia and had provided support to North Korea’s Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS), which is already subject to sanctions.
Also targeted were four China-based North Korean representatives of SANS-subordinate organisations, the treasury department said: Sim Kwang-sok, Kim Song-hun, Kang Chol-hak, and Pyon Kwang-chol.
The US quickly expressed its displeasure at the block.
Washington has accused all five North Koreans of ties to the country’s weapons programme, and today the US envoy to the United Nations warned that failing to mete out sanctions equated to a “blank cheque” for Pyongyang.
“We have these sanctions for a reason,” ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said when asked about the Beijing and Moscow opposition.
“And for any member state to oppose putting sanctions … gives, in my view, the DPRK a blank cheque,” she said, using an acronym for North Korea.
‘We need more time’
Under current UN rules, the block period lasts for six months.
After that, another council member can extend the block for three more months and one day, before the proposal is permanently removed from the negotiating table.
North Korea has launched a series of missile tests, asserting its “legitimate right” to self-defence.
Today’s Security Council meeting on North Korea, the second in 11 days, was devoted to discussing a “response to the latest tests”, according to Thomas-Greenfield.
“We have to respond to them. These actions are unacceptable,” she told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a research institute.
China’s diplomatic mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia demurred as well.
“We need more time to study the data,” Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told AFP.
Last week, failing to reach consensus for a unanimous statement at the Security Council’s first meeting after North Korea conducted a hypersonic missile launch test, the US, Albania, France, Ireland and Britain, along with Japan, had jointly called on Pyongyang to refrain from any further destabilising action.
It responded with more missile tests.
Today the same six countries, joined by new council members Brazil and the UAE, issued a joint statement urging fellow members to be “unified in condemning the DPRK”.
According to diplomats, the US sought to have the text adopted at the meeting but China refused.
The three-sentence statement, obtained by AFP, notes that the latest North Korean launches used “ballistic missile technology” and were “in violation of Security Council resolutions”.
It also urged Pyongyang to comply with its council obligations and to “engage in dialogue towards denuclearisation”.
Earlier in the day, North Korea hinted it could resume its nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests, as top officials led by Kim Jong-un said the country was preparing for a “long-term confrontation” with the US, state-run media reported.
China said Monday it had reopened its border with North Korea for freight train trade, some two years after it was shuttered by Pyongyang because of the coronavirus pandemic.
UNITED NATIONS: China and Russia today blocked a US push to impose United Nations sanctions on five North Koreans in response to recent missile launches by Pyongyang, diplomats told AFP.
China’s block came before a new closed-door Security Council meeting on North Korea, also requested by Washington, and was followed by Russia’s decision to similarly oppose the American proposal.
Along with Beijing, Moscow has long held a line against increasing pressure on North Korea, even asking for relief from international sanctions for humanitarian reasons.
Last week, after Washington levied sanctions on five North Koreans linked to the country’s ballistic missile programme, the US undertook a campaign within the 15-member Security Council to extend UN sanctions to those same five people.
The US treasury department said one of the North Koreans, Choe Myong-hyon, was based in Russia and had provided support to North Korea’s Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS), which is already subject to sanctions.
Also targeted were four China-based North Korean representatives of SANS-subordinate organisations, the treasury department said: Sim Kwang-sok, Kim Song-hun, Kang Chol-hak, and Pyon Kwang-chol.
The US quickly expressed its displeasure at the block.
Washington has accused all five North Koreans of ties to the country’s weapons programme, and today the US envoy to the United Nations warned that failing to mete out sanctions equated to a “blank cheque” for Pyongyang.
“We have these sanctions for a reason,” ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said when asked about the Beijing and Moscow opposition.
“And for any member state to oppose putting sanctions … gives, in my view, the DPRK a blank cheque,” she said, using an acronym for North Korea.
‘We need more time’
Under current UN rules, the block period lasts for six months.
After that, another council member can extend the block for three more months and one day, before the proposal is permanently removed from the negotiating table.
North Korea has launched a series of missile tests, asserting its “legitimate right” to self-defence.
Today’s Security Council meeting on North Korea, the second in 11 days, was devoted to discussing a “response to the latest tests”, according to Thomas-Greenfield.
“We have to respond to them. These actions are unacceptable,” she told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a research institute.
China’s diplomatic mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia demurred as well.
“We need more time to study the data,” Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told AFP.
Last week, failing to reach consensus for a unanimous statement at the Security Council’s first meeting after North Korea conducted a hypersonic missile launch test, the US, Albania, France, Ireland and Britain, along with Japan, had jointly called on Pyongyang to refrain from any further destabilising action.
It responded with more missile tests.
Today the same six countries, joined by new council members Brazil and the UAE, issued a joint statement urging fellow members to be “unified in condemning the DPRK”.
According to diplomats, the US sought to have the text adopted at the meeting but China refused.
The three-sentence statement, obtained by AFP, notes that the latest North Korean launches used “ballistic missile technology” and were “in violation of Security Council resolutions”.
It also urged Pyongyang to comply with its council obligations and to “engage in dialogue towards denuclearisation”.
Earlier in the day, North Korea hinted it could resume its nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests, as top officials led by Kim Jong-un said the country was preparing for a “long-term confrontation” with the US, state-run media reported.
China said Monday it had reopened its border with North Korea for freight train trade, some two years after it was shuttered by Pyongyang because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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kt comments (on sanctions):
Looking forward to the day the USA will sanction Israel for war crimes, land stealing, infanticide and its nuclear arsenal - but I won't hold my breath.
The New York Times picked up the story and declared “Iraq Sanctions Kill Children.” CBS followed up with a segment on 60 Minutes that repeated the numbers and depicted sanctions as a murderous assault on children.
This was the program in which UN ambassador (and later Secretary of State) Madeleine Albright, when asked about these numbers, coldly stated, “The price is worth it.” 😲😲😲
From Wikipedia:
The place where the Prague incident took place.
In late October 2012, during a book signing in the Prague bookstore Palác Knih Luxor, Albright was visited by a group of activists from the Czech organization "Přátelé Srbů na Kosovu". She was filmed saying, "Disgusting Serbs, get out!" to the Czech group, which had brought war photos to the signing, some of which showed Serbian victims of the Kosovo War in 1999.
In late October 2012, during a book signing in the Prague bookstore Palác Knih Luxor, Albright was visited by a group of activists from the Czech organization "Přátelé Srbů na Kosovu". She was filmed saying, "Disgusting Serbs, get out!" to the Czech group, which had brought war photos to the signing, some of which showed Serbian victims of the Kosovo War in 1999.
The protesters were expelled from the event when police arrived. Two videos of the incident were later posted by the group on their YouTube channel. Filmmaker Emir Kusturica expressed thanks to Czech director Václav Dvořák for organizing and participating in the demonstration. Together with other protesters, Dvořák also reported Albright to the police, stating that she was spreading ethnic hatred and disrespect to the victims of the war.
Albright's involvement in the NATO bombing of Serbia was the main cause of the demonstration – a sensitive topic which became even more controversial when it was revealed that her investment firm, Albright Capital Management, was preparing to bid in the proposed privatization of Kosovo's state-owned telecom and postal company, Post and Telecom of Kosovo.
Albright's involvement in the NATO bombing of Serbia was the main cause of the demonstration – a sensitive topic which became even more controversial when it was revealed that her investment firm, Albright Capital Management, was preparing to bid in the proposed privatization of Kosovo's state-owned telecom and postal company, Post and Telecom of Kosovo.
In an article published by the New York-based magazine Bloomberg Businessweek, it was estimated that the deal could be as large as €600 million. Serbia opposed the sale, and intended to file a lawsuit to block it, alleging that the rights of former Serbian employees were not respected.
KTemoc sides with all the ugliest regimes in the world, simply to spite his hated Yanks.
ReplyDeleteNorth Korea , threatening all the nations in North East Asia, except fellow ugly Buddies China and Russia - South Korea, Japan all targets of their nuclear tipped ballistic missiles and now, hypersonic.
Serbia of Radovan Karazic and Radko Mladic , butcher of Sarajevo and Sebrenica.
Ktemoc LOVES them all.
wakakaka, your childishness is pathetic as you wrestle with your futile attempts to combat political thoughts different from yours.
DeleteNorth Korea has been threatened repetitively by the USA since the 1950 War, with even a US aborted attempt to nuke North Korea with around 80 nuclear bombs.
As for Japan, she was the colonial oppressor of both Korea's, with even sinister evil programs to destroy Korean culture and replace that with Japanese culture. Korean women were used brutally as sex-toys for her invading/occupying troops. Japan deserves a dozen more H-bombs to teach her a full & complete lesson
and that has been why N Korea has been meddling with nuclear bombs and ICBM missiles as warnings to the US not to eff around with her
DeleteTold you, Ktemoc is full of vile, evil hate.
DeleteOld moneyed mfer has u ever considered the atomic weapons stockpiled by the Zionists to 'defend' their 'homeland' from been swamped by the Arabs?
DeleteOoop… u would have learned that word - deterrence from yr Yankee idol!
So why not N Korea? Iran?
When yr uncle Sam has been threatening to blow them out from the surface of the earth!
Do u know anything about yr own vile & evil hate?
Guess NOT!