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NEW YORK (REUTERS) – The United Nations envoy from Germany, during his last scheduled meeting of the UN Security Council, called on China to release two Canadians detained for Christmas, prompting the deputy envoy of China’s UN to respond: “From the bottom of my heart: See you later!”
Germany ends a two-year term on the 15-member council at the end of this month and Ambassador Christoph Heusgen plans to retire after more than 40 years as a diplomat.
“Let me end my tenure on the Security Council by asking my Chinese colleagues to ask Beijing for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Christmas is the right time for such a gesture,” Heusgen said at the council session, whose official agenda the topic was Iran.
Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat working as an advisor to think tank International Crisis Group, and businessman Spavor were detained by Beijing in 2018 shortly after Canadian police detained Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou with a warrant. American.
China’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Geng Shuang, accused Heusgen of abusing the Security Council to launch malicious attacks against other members “in an attempt to poison the working atmosphere.”
“I wish to say something from the bottom of my heart: Have a good trip, Ambassador Heusgen,” Geng said. “I hope that the council in his absence in 2021 will be in a better position to carry out the responsibilities … of maintaining international peace and security.”
Heusgen also used the Security Council meeting to advise Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, to read certain articles about Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who said he had tricked a Russian secret agent into revealing details of a failed plan to assassinate him. Russia’s FSB security service dismissed the recording as false.
Polyanskiy replied: “It seems that he has developed a certain dependence on the council, there is never a meeting without criticism of Russia, even if that is not appropriate to the subject. I hope that after January 1 Christoph’s symptoms improve.
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