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NEW YORK (REUTERS) – China and the United States supported a draft UN Security Council resolution facing the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday and it was “shocking and regrettable” that Washington changed its mind on Friday, a Chinese diplomat said. .
A US diplomat contested the Chinese comment, saying there was no US agreement on the text.
For more than six weeks, the 15-member council has been trying to agree on a text that ultimately aims to endorse a March 23 call by UN chief Antonio Guterres for a ceasefire in global conflicts for the world can focus on the pandemic.
But the talks have been hampered by a clash between China and the United States over whether to mention the World Health Organization.
The United States does not want a reference, China has insisted that it be included, while other members see the mention, or not, of the WHO as a marginal issue, diplomats said.
Washington stopped funding for the WHO, a UN agency, after President Donald Trump accused him of being “China-focused” and promoting China’s “disinformation” about the outbreak, the WHO says it denies.
The Security Council appeared to have reached a compromise on Thursday night, diplomats said and according to the latest version of a French and Tunisian draft resolution.
Rather than naming WHO, the draft referred to “specialized health agencies”. WHO is the only agency of its kind.
But the United States rejected that language on Friday, diplomats said, because it was an obvious reference to the Geneva-based WHO.
“The United States accepted the compromise text and it is shocking and regrettable that the United States has changed its position,” the Chinese diplomat said, on condition of anonymity, on Saturday (May 9), adding that China supported the draft.
The US diplomat, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was no US agreement on the text, which the US mission to the United Nations had sent to Washington for review on Thursday.
Diplomats said that during the negotiations, both China and the United States had raised the possibility of a veto on the issue of whether to mention the WHO or not. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no veto from France, Russia, Britain, the United States or China to pass.
A State Department spokesman said Friday that the United States had worked constructively and accused China of repeatedly blocking commitments during the negotiations.
While the Security Council, charged with maintaining international peace and security, cannot do much to deal with the coronavirus itself, diplomats and analysts say it could have projected global unity by backing the call for a ceasefire by Guterres.
French UN Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said on Friday that “we are still trying to achieve a positive result and trying to see if there is a possible compromise.”
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