The US and its allies on Monday strongly condemned North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test, and called for action to limit its nuclear and missile programs, but Russia and China opposed any new pressure and sanctions on Pyongyang.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that the administration of US President Joe Biden would circulate a proposed presidential statement, which would condemn North Korea “for all its unlawful ballistic missile launches and other dangerous and destabilizing activity,” as well as call for Pyongyang to abide by UN sanctions banning all ballistic missile and nuclear tests.
Presidential statements — a step below a legally binding council resolution — require agreement from all 15 council members to be adopted, and the comments by Russia and China indicated resistance to any condemnation of North Korea’s action.
Photo: AP
Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Anna Evstigneeva said that the reason for the “increasingly provocative and increasingly dangerous” situation today is clear: “Washington’s desire to force Pyongyang into unilateral disarmament by implementing sanctions and exerting force.”
She pointed to a dramatic increase in military exercises by the US, South Korea and Japan, including a US-South Korean navy exercise for missile defense systems involving destroyers on the eve of North Korea’s ICBM launch on Thursday last week, recent exercises using strategic bombers and a practice strike on the North’s ballistic missile installations.
Evstigneeva said that such military measures and possible new sanctions threaten to create further tensions on the Korean Peninsula, “which can lead to unpredictable and dangerous consequences for the entire northeast Asia region.”
What the council should do is “support inter-Korean dialogue and multilateral negotiations rather than becoming an impediment to them,” she said.
Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun (張軍) called for efforts “to cool down the situation,” restart dialogue “and try to meet each other halfway to prevent the situation from repeated escalation or even getting out of control.”
Zhang urged the US to take the initiative, “show sincerity,” put forward realistic proposals, respond positively to North Korea’s legitimate concerns, stop military exercises and ease sanctions.
The council “should play a constructive role on this issue and should not always condemn or exert pressure” on Pyongyang, he said.
The council should “promote the de-escalation of the situation at an early date so as to leave room for diplomatic efforts rather than create obstacles for this,” he said.
During the meeting there were many calls for condemnation of last week’s launch, reportedly the first successful test of the North’s new Hwasong-17 missile, which is reportedly capable of reaching North America.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo reiterated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ strong condemnation of the launch as a “blatant violation” of UN sanctions.
After the meeting, Thomas-Greenfield read a statement on behalf of eight council members — Albania, France, Ireland, India, Norway, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US — as well as South Korea, Japan and four countries joining the council in January.
It supported condemnation of the ICBM launch, and action to limit North Korea’s advancement of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
“We invite all member states to join us in condemning the DPRK’s unlawful ballistic missile launches and call for full implementation of the existing Security Council resolutions,” the statement said, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its official name. “We remain committed to diplomacy, and to that end, encourage the DPRK to halt its threatening behavior in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions, and to engage in meaningful dialogue toward denuclearization.”
China’s largest naval training ship sailed for the Philippines yesterday, its last stop of a regional “friendly” tour, amid growing unease over Chinese maritime activities in the South China Sea. The giant training vessel, Qi Jiguang, bigger than a typical destroyer, left Brunei on Thursday for the Philippines as part of a 40-day trip, which has included stops in Vietnam and Thailand. At the end of its trip, Qi Jiguang and its crew of 476 navy students and officers would have passed through the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, Gulf of Thailand and Western Pacific. ‘FRIENDLY’ Training conducted by the ship,
A long trek across the desert of northeastern Niger brings visitors to one of the most astonishing and rewarding sights in the Sahel: fortified villages of salt and clay perched on rocks with the Saharan sands laying siege below. Generations of travelers have stood before the “ksars” of Djado, wondering at their crenelated walls, watchtowers, secretive passages and wells, all of them testifying to a skilled, but unknown hand. Who chose to build this outpost in a scorched and desolate region — and why they built it — are questions that have never been fully answered. Just as beguiling is why it
‘NATURAL CAUSES’: New evidence indicated Kathleen Folbigg’s two daughters died of myocarditis caused by genetics, while a son died of a neurogenetic disorder An Australian woman who spent 20 years in prison was pardoned and released yesterday based on new scientific evidence that her four children died by natural causes as she had insisted. The pardon was seen as the quickest way of getting Kathleen Folbigg out of prison and a final report from the second inquiry into her guilt could recommend that the state Court of Appeals quash her convictions. Folbigg, now 55, was released from a prison in Grafton, New South Wales, following an unconditional pardon by state Governor Margaret Beazley. Australian state governors are figureheads who act on instructions of governments. New South
RE-ENGAGEMENT: Both sides described the talks as ‘candid’ and ‘productive,’ with the US State Department saying that it wants to restore ‘high-level diplomacy’ Senior US and Chinese officials yesterday held “candid” talks in Beijing, days after the two countries’ defense chiefs squared off at a security forum. US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink met with Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭), becoming the most senior US official to publicly travel to Beijing since an alleged Chinese spy balloon was downed in the US. Both sides described the talks as “candid” and “productive” in their readouts, with the US Department of State saying that the exchange was part of ongoing efforts to restore “high-level diplomacy.” The Chinese