China, Russia veto fresh UN sanctions on North Korea
China and Russia vetoed a UN resolution sponsored by the United States on Thursday that would have imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea for its spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-2 and marked the first serious division among the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN’s most powerful body on a North Korea sanctions resolution. A united Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years seeking to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and cut off funding.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield appealed for unity before Thursday’s vote, calling North Korea’s six ICBM tests this year “a threat to the entire international community.” She stressed that in the last sanctions resolution adopted by the council in December 2017, members committed to further restricting petroleum exports to North Korea if it conducted a ballistic missile launch capable of reaching intercontinental ranges.
China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun reiterated Beijing’s opposition to new sanctions against North Korea ahead of Thursday’s vote. He called instead for the United States to take “meaningful, practical actions” to resume its dialogue with the country and find a political solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Wednesday’s announcement of the vote and the US release of the draft resolution came hours after South Korea reported that North Korea test-launched a suspected ICBM and two other shorter-range missiles. It also followed Tuesday’s conclusion of U.S. President Joe Biden’s Asia trip reinforcing the U.S. pivot that included stops in South Korea and Japan, where he reaffirmed America’s commitment to defend both allies.
In his Thursday address, Blinken said the administration of President Joe Biden wants to lead the international bloc opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into a broader coalition to counter what it sees as a more serious, threat to global order from China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that Blinken’s speech was to “contain and suppress China’s development and uphold US hegemony. “We strongly deplore this.”