The US on Wednesday circulated a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that would blacklist the leader of a Pakistan-based militant group as a terrorist, setting up a potential clash with China.
China earlier this month put on hold a request to put Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader Masood Azhar on the UN sanctions list over his alleged ties to al-Qaeda.
That request stalled in a UN sanctions committee, prompting the US to turn directly to the council with the proposed resolution blacklisting Azhar.
JeM has claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops and stoked tensions between India and Pakistan.
The draft resolution condemns the suicide bombing and decides that Azhar is to be added to the UN al-Qaeda and Islamic State group sanctions blacklist.
That would subject Azhar, considered the founder of JeM, to a global travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo.
It remained unclear when a vote would be held on the draft resolution, which could face a veto from China, one of the five permanent council members along with Britain, France, Russia and the US.
There have been four attempts through a UN sanctions committee to add Azhar to the blacklist. China blocked three previous requests and put a technical hold on the latest one, which could last up to nine months.
JeM itself has been on the UN terror list since 2001.
Azhar is linked to terrorism for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities” carried out by JeM, an annex to the draft says.
The draft resolution is backed by France and Britain, which joined the US earlier this month in pushing for sanctions against Azhar in the council’s ISIL and al-Qaeda Sanctionin Committee.
China has been accused by Western diplomats of protecting Pakistan’s interests in the latest standoff with India, but Beijing has defended its decision by arguing that it had adopted a “responsible attitude” in dealing “with this issue with relevant parties via thorough consultation,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese