Chinese Regime Defends its Veto of UN Resolution That Condems Syria's Violence

The Chinese regime defended its highly controversial veto of a UN resolution that would have called for Syrian President Bashar al Assad to leave power—even as other countries on the UN Security Council denounced the veto.

A spokesman for the Chinese regime's Foreign Ministry, Liu Weimin, told reporters that China chose to veto the resolution because it did not think it would resolve the violence in Syria.

He said, [pull quote] "The vote on the resolution was pushed through when different parties still had serious disagreements. Doing it this way is not conducive to maintaining the unity and authority of the Security Council, and not conducive to a proper resolution to the problem. This is why China vetoed this resolution."

But the other members of the UN Security Council—save Russia who also vetoed the resolution—were livid. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called the veto a "travesty" and suggested that China and Russia now have blood on their hands as the civilian death toll in Syria continues to rise under the Assad government’s violent crackdown on dissents.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Osamu Fujimura, criticized the Security Council—of which it is a member—for not being unified on the Syria issue.

[Osamu Fujimura, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary]:
"The suppression which has killed more than 5400 people since March last year is continuing, and it is very disappointing that the UN Security Council, which consists of members that have responsibilities in the international community, has failed to send a strong and unified message to condemn such an inhumane and undemocratic situation."

Japan was one of the thirteen members of the UN Security Council that voted for the resolution.