UNITED NATIONS, Jan 13: China and Russia on Friday vetoed a US resolution calling on Myanmar's military junta to stop persecution of minority and opposition groups, killing the measure in the UN Security Council.
The vote was 9-3 in favour of the resolution, with three abstentions. But two of the negative votes came from permanent members with veto rights.
Both Russia and China, which had not cast a double veto since 1972, made the point the United States needed to listen to their complaints carefully. They argued that human rights violations were not the purview of the Security Council unless they endangered regional or international peace and security, which Myanmar did not.
“I hope some of our partners also learned some lessons in the course of this entire process,” Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said. China's envoy, Wang Guangya, told reporters the United States acted like it was the only permanent council member.
South Africa also voted `no’, while Qatar, Indonesia and Congo Republic abstained. Voting with Washington were Britain, which co-sponsored the draft, France, Belgium, Italy, Ghana, Peru, Panama and Slovakia.—Reuters
