UN Security Council divided over sanctions

Chinese envoy condemns DPRK's latest nuclear test, calls for return to dialogue

UNITED NATIONS - Members of the UN Security Council remained divided on Monday over possible new sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea over its latest nuclear test.

In an emergency meeting of the Security Council, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, as well as Japan, were in favor of new sanctions, while countries like Russia advised diplomacy.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said DPRK leader Kim Jong-un is "begging for war".

"The time has come to exhaust all diplomatic means to end this crisis, and that means quickly enacting the strongest possible measures here in the UN Security Council," Haley said.

"Only the strongest sanctions will enable us to resolve this problem through diplomacy. We have kicked the can down the road long enough. There is no more road left."

Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia cautioned that past failure of the council to curb the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs was owing to the fact that the resolutions "were only geared toward leveraging sanctions mechanisms".

"Russia calls on the international community not to yield to emotions, (but) to act in calm and balanced ways," he said, adding that a comprehensive settlement can be achieved only through diplomatic channels.

French ambassador to the UN Francois Delattre called for the adoption of new sanctions by the Security Council, plus autonomous sanctions by the European Union.

He said the threat from the DPRK has changed both in dimension and nature. It has changed from regional to global, from virtual to immanent, from serious to existential.

Japanese envoy Koro Bessho said: "We stresses the need for the council to adopt swiftly a new resolution with further robust sanction measures."

China's permanent representative to the UN Liu Jieyi condemned the DPRK for the latest nuclear test and urged the country to return to the track of dialogue.

"The issue must be resolved peacefully. China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula," he said.

"It's China's firm stance, as well as the common goal of the international community, to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, maintain a nuclear nonproliferation system and maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia," Liu said.

Dual approach

The envoy said the suspension-for-suspension proposal and dualtrack approach put forward by China together with the Russian proposal of a step-by-step approach is a realistic and feasible roadmap for the settlement of the issue, asking the relevant parties for due consideration and positive responses.

The idea of dual approach involves parallel efforts to move forward both denuclearization and the establishment of a peaceful mechanism; the initiative of suspension-for-suspension calls for the DPRK to suspend its nuclear and missile activities and for the US and the ROK to suspend their large-scale war games.

The DPRK on Sunday detonated a hydrogen bomb, the DPRK's Central Television announced.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced opposition to tougher sanctions against Pyongyang. "Resorting to just any sanctions in this situation is useless and inefficient," he said at a summit of BRICS countries in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen.

"All of this can lead to a global planetary catastrophe and a great number of victims."

Xinhua - China Daily