China's foreign minister yesterday defended the decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar that would have called on the regime to free all political prisoners.
China and Russia blocked the US-sponsored measure in the council's first double veto for nearly 20 years, hampering Washington's efforts to press Myanmar's military junta over its human rights record.
"China's position is completely in accordance with the UN charter's spirit," Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) said on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in the Philippines, which is also being attended by Myanmar.
"It is in the interest of international peace and regional stability. It is in the people's interest," Li said. "If you read the UN charter, you would know why China voted this way."
He did not elaborate but China's UN ambassador said after the vote that the situation in Myanmar did "not represent a threat to international peace" -- one of the charter's standards for council action.
"China believes there's no need for the UN Security Council to get involved," Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya (
Myanmar has kept Nobel Peace Prize-winner and democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for much of the last two decades.
Her opposition political party won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to govern. Many of her supporters remain behind bars.
The US has accused the regime of torturing, raping and executing its own people, waging war on minorities and looking the other way while drug and human trafficking grows.
Myanmar has repeatedly proved a thorny issue for members of ASEAN, who are meeting this weekend in a resort in Cebu.
It has been slow to implement a pledged "road map" to democracy, and ASEAN countries have been debating the creation of their own charter -- which would allow them more sway over the internal affairs of member nations.
Student activists were set to hold a candlelight vigil outside the ASEAN gala banquet yesterday evening in Cebu to call for democracy in Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The UN estimate there are 1,100 political prisoners in Myanmar.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS