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China and Russia block UN Security Council statement on Myanmar crisis
- The proposed British-drafted statement expressed concern at the limited progress of the Five Point Consensus over a year since it was agreed
- China’s UN Mission said it proposed ‘slow’ progress rather than ‘limited’ progress on the Five Point Consensus, saying in a statement that this wording “is factual but less condescending”
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China and Russia have blocked the UN Security Council from issuing a statement expressing concern at the violence and serious humanitarian situation in Myanmar and the “limited progress” on implementing a regional plan to restore peace to the strife-torn Southeast Asian nation, diplomats said.
The council was briefed virtually behind closed doors on Friday afternoon by Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, the special envoy for Myanmar for Asean, and UN envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer on efforts to resolve the crisis in the country since the military coup on February 1, 2021.
When the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, it claimed with scant evidence that the general election her party won in November 2020 in a landslide was marred by widespread fraud.
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The coup almost immediately sparked widespread street protests that security forces tried to crush, and continuing widespread resistance to the army’s takeover has resulted in what some UN experts have characterised as a civil war that is challenging the military’s ability to govern.
The proposed British-drafted press statement, obtained by The Associated Press, stressed the central role of Asean “in facilitating a peaceful solution to the crisis” and reiterated council members’ calls to pursue dialogue “with all parties concerned” in the interests of the people of Myanmar.
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