BEIJING – China Wednesday vowed to ‘firmly oppose’ the new resolution moved by United States of America seeking listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar at the United Nations Security Council, stressing that the issue should be discussed within the 1267 committee.
If China vetoes the US resolution, it would be in line with China’s stated policy over the Indo-US moves to put JeM chief under UN sanctions.
Last month, the US had circulated a draft resolution in the UN Security Council, proposing to list Masood Azhar as a global terrorist after China stalled a proposal initiated by France under the 1267 Sanctions Committee.
Responding to a question here during a routine media briefing, Chinese spokesman Lu Kang while responding to a question said that on the issue of the listing of Masood Azhar, China’s position remains unchanged.
“We are also having communication with relevant parties and the matter is moving towards the direction of settlement. Regarding what you said, relevant parties are forcing a new resolution through the security council. We firmly oppose that,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that in relevant discussions, most members have expressed that this issue should be discussed within the 1267 committee and they don’t hope to bypass the 1267 committee to handle the issue.
“We hope the relevant country can respect the opinions of most members of the security council to act in a cooperative manner and to help resolve this issue properly within the framework of the 1267 committee,” the spokesman said.
Respond to a question about media reports suggesting that China has been given a deadline of April 23 for deciding on the technical hold otherwise they are going to go about by the Security Council, Lu Kang said he was not aware of any such deadline.
“I don’t know from where you get such information but Security Council and its subsidiary bodies like the 1267 committee have clear rules of procedures and you have to seek clarification from those sources. China’s position is very clear. This issue should be resolved through cooperation and we don’t believe that any efforts without the consensus of most members will achieve satisfying results,” he added.
Asked to elabourate how Masood Azhar’s issue was moving towards settlement, Lu Kang said the matter is now moving in the direction of settlement.
“As to the specifics for the discussion in the 1267 committee, there are clear procedures and regulations regarding UNSC and its subsidiary bodies. We hope that the members follow and abide by such procedures,” he concluded.
