AFP: China, Russia cast rare UN veto on US draft on Myanmar

[Eugene]

China, Russia cast rare UN veto on US draft on Myanmar

52 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - China and Russia cast a rare veto in the UN Security Council
to block a US draft resolution that would have urged Myanmar's rulers to release all
political prisoners and end all forms of sexual violence by their military.

South Africa joined Russia and China in opposing the text, which was co-sponsored by
Britain, while Indonesia, Qatar and Congo abstained.

The last time a multiple veto was used in the 15-member Security Council was in 1989
when the United States, Britain and France blocked a resolution on the situation
in Panama.

-snip-

Opponents of the text said the Myanmar issue did not represent a threat to international
peace and security and was best handled by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070112/wl_asia_afp/unmyanmaruschina_070112220146

[VegasWolf]

1. Bush is putting Myanmar that are next in line after he finishes with Iran and Syria.

Bush the clown, always playing with other countries. What a joker! He cracks me up.

[OregonBlue]

2. The military Junta in Myanmar deserves no sympathy. They are

repressing and imprisoning their people. They conscript their citizens to forced labor. They are stealing all of the money from oil, gems, teak, etc., and stashing it in private bank accounts. They live like Kings while their people suffer!!

[Robbien]

3. My knee jerk reaction is to oppose anything John Bolton pushed

Before he left John Bolton he did two things. He pushed hard for this Myanmar resolution and he pushed for the arming of the warlords in Somalia.

We see how well Somalia worked out so I have a hard time believing this Myanmar resolution is a good thing.

[OregonBlue]

6. I agree. I'm sure they Myanmar resolution stinks, however, I would love to

see those generals end up in prison and the sooner the better. Best thing about Myanmar, they moved the capitol and much of the military into the middle of the country where no one lives. Kidnapped workers to build their new city and most of them ran away. Now they're out there all by themselves. I suspect however that China is providing them plenty of armaments to "defend" themselves from their own citizenry.

[BestCenter]

16. Actually

What can you say about the result of arming the warlords? They weren't able of overthrowing the ICU themselves, so Ethiopia had to step in.

[sweetheart]

5. They need to be occupied, clearly

Agreed. Those generals are nasty characters and a military bombing of myanmar should
begin ASAP on all population centers to murder the civilians and restore democracy.
Then the Army can invade and kill everyone else and myanmar will be free of any title
challenges for oil exploration... spot on... lets save them.

[OregonBlue]

7. Actually, I don't think it called for military bombing. The plan is to cut them

off financially. You'll note that the article states:

US draft resolution that would have urged Myanmar's rulers to release all
political prisoners and end all forms of sexual violence by their military.

This is a very brutal regime. As I said previously, the generals are selling off all of Myanmar's wealth (which is considerable) and spiriting the money out of the country into private bank accounts. I believe that the plan is to try to stop any European, Chinese, etc. banks from allowing them to continue this practice.

[malaise]

4. About time the rest of the world

said no to Bush. There will be many more.

[paulk]

8. I wonder if S. Africa, China , and Russia are selling arms to

Burma. That's the only reason I can think that they would oppose this resolution.

This isn't about Bush, as some people have posted. The Myanmar regime is one of the most brutal and repressive in the world.
Their actions are indefensible.

[Eugene]

9. That's not the only motive.

Yes, China is a major supplier of arms to Burma. However Russia and China
have also resisted the U.S. throwing its weight around in Asia, especially
over human rights. The U.S. using the Security Council as an instrument
for spreading its brand of "freedom" and "democracy" also rubs them the
wrong way too without a doubt.

Burma's human rights practices are atrocious, but some countries insist
that the UN Human Rights Council is the right place for the issue.

[oblivious]

10. Yes, China, Russia and ASEAN say this does not belong in the SC.

ASEAN says US overstepped its authority
Posted on : Sat, 13 Jan 2007

Accusing United States of overstepping its authority by instigating a vote to seek a UN Resolution against Myanmar, China and other major Asian powers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said that Security Council was not the platform to resolve the Myanmar issue.

China was critical of the US saying that the Myanmar issue in no way represents a threat to regional and international peace and security. Speaking to the state run news agency Xinhua, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said, "The situation in Myanmar does not constitute a threat to regional and international peace and security. If the Security Council passed a resolution on the Myanmar issue, that would have exceeded the duties of the Council laid out in the United Nations Charter."

On Friday, both Russia and China vetoed a draft resolution by US asking the UN to punish Myanmar for prosecuting pro-democracy protesters. The Indonesian foreign minister agreed with his Chinese counterpart saying that if any action against Myanmar is to take place, then it should be through the Human Rights councils and not the Security Council.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/19867.html

[fujiyama]

11. The Human Rights Council

What a joke right there!

[oblivious]

12. So is the Security Council for that matter.

[BestCenter]

15. No.

The Sec Council, in which the nuclear power members of the alliance that won WWII hold power, is the most potent part of the entire U.N.

[oblivious]

17. "Potent" at what?

Rolling over to let powerful states destroy weak states?

Sitting idly by while permanent members engage in preemptive war, the supreme international crime.

Placing sanctions on Iran for doing what it is entitled to do under international law (the NPT)?

[BestCenter]

18. Remember the Korean War. (n/t)

[Xithras]

13. 100% Agreed.

I challenge anyone to show me one humanitarian situation that the UNHRC has helped to resolve. One.

The UNHRC is just a bunch of appointed bureaucrats sitting around talking to each other, all under the false impression that the world is paying any attention to them. No UNHRC resolution has ever done a thing anywhere.

[struggle4progress]

14. UN Human Rights Council has existed for less than a year, so ..

.. perhaps it is unreasonable to expect a long record of achievement, especially given the current international context, in which the one and only superpower in the world is openly hostile to international law ...

[FarCenter]

19. Symbolic shot over Washington's bow

I think that this veto is China and Russia signaling Washington that they won't go along with further Security Council meddling in Iran.

Not that Myanmar is insignificant in itself. It has about 1 billion barrels of proven reserves, and is therefore a candidate for "democratization". Recall that the Burmah Oil Company was a predecessor of British Petroleum and was involved with early drilling in Iran.

Better yet, Myanmar has a deep water port on the Indian Ocean, where tankers from the Persian Gulf can unload and the oil can be sent via pipeline directly to the southern provinces of China. This avoids shipping the oil by tanker through the Malacca Straits and the vulnerable sea lanes through Indonesia and Malaysia.